Finding Us
by UNrequitedAmbitions
Summary: The boys decide to spend their last summer together away from South Park entirely. As they make their way across the states to their final destination, they end up learning more about eachother then they ever thought possible. Kyle/Cartman
1. Looking For A Way Out

**A/N: **Hey everyone! This is my first Kyle/Cartman fic., so I'm hoping I'm getting this right :)

I know the plot moves kind of fast right at first, but I kind of wanted to introduce the main idea of the story right away, so I didn't end up dragging it out for like five chapters, cause I tend to do that a lot...

Also, very sorry if it seems a bit shaky in some parts, I'm not really used to writing in third person- actually I've never written in third person- so it's very new, but it's growing on me, so I am getting the hang of it fast. The reason I wanted this fic to be in third person is because I really wanted it to be about all of them- not just Kyle and Cartman. This way I can really include all of their feelings and thoughts and stuff.

So anyways, I hope you enjoy the first chapter and continue to read on- I have a lot planned for this fic :)

* * *

They used to think their lives began the day they started high school. But they soon realized that freshmen aren't exactly the highest on the social ladder, and years of senior torture couldn't be what life was all about.

They used to think that their lives didn't truly begin until they got their driver's licenses. Then they each experienced drunken crashes, speeding tickets and parking fines, and that couldn't be what life was about.

They used to think that life officially began when they turned eighteen. Then they realized that even though they could legally buy porn, cigarettes, and lottery tickets, they still lived with their parents. And that couldn't possibly be what life was all about.

Then, at the end of their senior year, during their graduation ceremony, there was a brief instance when each of them caught the other's eye and they knew, they _knew, _that this time they were right. Life didn't start until you graduated high school.

* * *

"What is it that you need, Stan? My mom is already freaking out about God-knows-what, and I don't need her heading a search party if she thinks I've gone missing." Kyle whined as him, Kenny, and Cartman were pushed along to the side of the South Park High School building.

The senior graduation ceremonies had just ended, and the sun was beginning to sink low into the horizon, casting the school parking lot with a golden hue as parents and classmates clumped together in crowded groups to take pictures and talk.

"Quit complaining, Kyle." Stan rolled his eyes as he leaned against the scratchy brick of the building, relishing the cool shade and slightly damp grass.

They were all silent for a time, Kenny slouching next to Stan, Cartman standing slightly away by nature, with his arms crossed defensively over his chest, and Kyle, glancing nervously around the corner of the building every few seconds.

"Seriously, Stan. What do you want?" Kyle spoke up, sounding acutely agitated.

"Well," Stan started, pushing off from the wall to stand before his three friends. "I was thinking that, since this is our last summer- ya know- together," he paused for a moment to rub the back of his neck out of nervous habit. "And since I know you're all about as sick of your families and this town as I am."

"Amen." Kenny commented, looking up at Stan through the fringe of his blond hair, his blue eyes shining deeply in the dimming light.

"Right." Stan chuckled awkwardly as Kyle and Cartman remained silent. "I kinda thought it would be a good idea if we pooled our money together and just… left- for the summer." A deafening silence followed his words, broken only by the distant sounds of laughter and the constant click of cameras. Stan shifted his weight, feeling self-conscious with the three of them starring blankly at him.

"What do you mean _leave_?" Cartman spoke up, giving Stan an incredulous look.

"California isn't that far away." Stan suggested, beginning to feel ridiculous for ever bringing his idea up. "And we're all eighteen, so our parents can't technically make us stay." He added, trying to make the offer sound more appealing as he nervously awaited his friend's judgment.

"How would we even pay for something like that?" Kyle questioned, a thoughtful look on his face.

The fact that Kyle, known for nothing but the most rational of minds, seemed to be considering it even a little bit gave Stan a spark of hope that spread rapidly through his demeanor.

"We all have more than enough money saved up- even Kenny!" Stan exclaimed, motioning to their blond haired friend with a flourish. Kenny looked up from the ground, where he had been starring intently, and nodded.

"But Stan, I've been saving that money for-" Kyle started, but Stan immediately cut him off.

"For college, yeah." Stan waved an arm dismissively at him. "But Kyle, you've already got a free ride to Cornell! I've got a decent scholarship to Denver, Cartman is going to business school, and Kenny is starting up his job at the auto repair shop after summer."

"Well fuck," Kenny started suddenly, taking a small step forward to throw his arm around his black-haired friend. "If none of you'll go, I sure as Hell will!" He grinned conclusively at Kyle and Cartman. "The last thing I want to do with the end of my freedom is spend it cooped up with my family in South Park."

There was another pause as Kenny and Stan waited to see if their other friends would agree.

Cartman stepped forward after a few beats to stand on the other side of Stan, throwing his arm over his shoulder in imitation of Kenny.

The three of them stood there, facing Kyle as they waited expectantly for him to join them, like he always did. Like he always would.

"Jesus, guys!" The red head exclaimed, looking down at the ground and shuffling his feet as his clenched his fists in anxiety.

"Oh come on, Kyle. We all know you've agreed since the moment Stan opened his mouth." Kyle narrowed his eyes at Kenny as he spoke. "So stop being a pussy, and get over here already."

Kyle rolled his eyes dramatically and took a step forward, throwing his arm around Kenny's shoulders. "All right, whatever."

Stan gave a loud, triumphant cry of approval and pounded his fist into the air.

"Yes!" He yelled, smiling enthusiastically at his friends. "You guys, we are going to get the fuck out of this town, together, for the last time."

Kenny and Kyle chuckled, shaking their heads at his unusual bout of giddiness. Stan rarely expressed himself in very open ways- he tended to be a bit shy and sensitive most of the time.

"Okay, let's not overdo it." Kyle took his arm off Kenny and started walking away. "Nothing is happening until we all get the courage to tell our parents." He went to disappear around the corner, but paused for a moment to add. "And completely disobey them, if necessary."

"That's what I like to hear!" Stan shouted after him, and the three boys left broke into an excited laughter.

Kenny and Cartman both stepped away from Stan then to lean against the side of the building. They were quiet for a moment before Kenny spoke up, sounding uncharacteristically serious.

"He's right though, Stan." His brows were furrowed with thought as the raven-haired boy raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "We might have to tell our parents to fuck off." He explained as he pulled out a cigarette from the jeans he wore under his graduation robes.

"I mean," he started, talking around the end of the filter stuck in his mouth. "I know my parents won't care, but Stan, I have a feeling your mom won't be too happy about it." He finished as cupped his hands around the flame from his lighter so it would catch.

"She'll get over it," Stan waved the thought off with his hand, not wanting to worry about their plans being ruined by his mother. "If anything, we have to worry about momma's boy." He stuck a finger in Cartman's chest. "I doubt she'll let her poopsie-kins take three steps out the door."

"Ay!" Cartman started, looking offended. "I'll do what I want. Bitches can't make me do anything." He crossed his arms defiantly over his slightly pudgy stomach for emphasis. The boy had seriously thinned out over the years, losing his mass of fat, but was still unable to turn any of it into actual muscle.

"I guess we'll find out." Stan sneered jokingly at Cartman. "But guys," he started, taking on a more serious air. "No pussing out on me, all right? If you're in it, you're fuckin' in it to the end."

Kenny and Cartman nodded, but Stan didn't look completely reassured.

"I mean it, guys. I being real here- this isn't like those stupid cops and robber games we used to play as kids. I actually want to do this."

"We get it, Stan." Kenny situated his cigarette in his mouth before throwing his arm reassuringly around him again as they began walking around the edge of the building and back to the parking lot.

"The way I see it," Kenny continued, cigarette hanging precariously from his lips. "We've always been in it till the end. And this is essentially the end of our lives together, right?"

Stan starred far off into the distance, where the sun was melting into pinks and blues at the horizon.

"Yeah." He replied, voice barely above a whisper.

"Then don't worry about it. We've all got each other's backs." Kenny squeezed him to his side for a moment before taking one last drag and throwing it down on the cement. He then released Stan to jog up behind Bebe and warp his arms around her waist in a way that made her parents cast disapproving looks at him.

Stan and Cartman were the only two left now as they walked along in silence, looking for their parents. The number of people in the parking lot had thinned out a lot, but the growing darkness was making it more difficult to tell who was who. Stan stopped, though, when he caught the silhouette of his mother standing next to a rather large person that he recognized as Sheila Broflovski.

"I'll call you tomorrow sometime, man." Stan declared as he began walking away from Cartman. "We'll all get together and start figuring out what we're gunna do, okay?"

"Right." Cartman nodded and watched Stan walk off before disappearing into the crowd in the opposite direction.

"Hey, man." Stan greeted Kyle as he walked up to the small group consisting of their parents.

"Stanly, there you are!" His mother called out, looking slightly angry. "We've been looking all over for you."

"Sorry, mom." Stan flashed her a charming smile. "I had to run inside to use the bathroom."

"All right." She replied, but let a wary look linger on him before rejoining in her conversation with Sheila and Gerald. Stan wondered briefly why it was that mothers always had to be so suspicious of everything you do.

"Anyways, Kyle, we'd better get going." Sheila declared, grabbing her son forcefully by his upper arm and making to turn away from the group.

"Actually," Stan placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder, causing him to stop. "I was wondering if you wanted to stay the night at my house."

Kyle glanced back at his mother, who looked displeased. "I don't know, bubbe." She started in her familiar, nasally voice, letting go of his arm to cross her own over her large chest. "Ike has baseball practice in the morning, and your father and I are too busy to take him."

"Well then I'll leave early, ma." Kyle reasoned, taking a step back from her.

Sheila narrowed her eyes dangerously at her son before stepping forward and grabbing hold of him again. "No, I don't think it's a good idea- now let's go home. I told Ike we'd pick him up from Fillmore's before it got dark."

"But mom!" Kyle hissed quietly, trying his hardest not to make a scene.

"No buts, Kyle!" She nearly yelled, dragging him behind her. "I won't listen to anymore of your childish whining. We're going home, and you're staying there!"

By now they had attracted more than a few stares from the surrounding parents and their kids. Kenny was standing not too far away, shaking his head in an almost expectant way- like he knew something like this was going to happen by the end of the night. And maybe he did. It wasn't too hard to predict the way Sheila Broflovski would continuously embarrass her oldest son wherever there was a crowd of more than four.

Stan pinched the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. He didn't understand why Kyle wouldn't just grow some balls and stand up to his mother for once in his life. But, at the same time, it was understandable. Sheila was scary as Hell, and Stan was just glad she wasn't his own mother.

"Poor Kyle." Cartman's mom shook her head in empathy for the red head as he drove away with his parents. "Too bad he doesn't have a mother like me to spoil him rotten, right shnookums?" She pinched her son's cheek fondly as he tried to struggle away from her.

"Yeah, whatever mom!" Cartman exclaimed, rubbing his face angrily after she let him go. Liane quickly replaced Cartman's cheek for the recently divorced Steven Stoch's arm as the crowd slowly recovered from Sheila's short interruption.

Cartman huffed in annoyance as his mom went back to ignoring him in favor of laughing at Butter's dad's not-so-funny jokes. If he knew his mom at all, he should probably not even bother coming home tonight- unless he wanted to look at Steven in the morning. And that was something he definitely did _not _want to do. Especially if he had to listen to more of his lame ass jokes.

He walked away from his mother, who didn't even seem to notice, to try and find Kenny. As much as he hated his dump of a house, he'd most likely end up crashing there tonight. He would have asked Stan, but, as long as they've been friends, they've never actually had a sleepover alone before, and, well, old habits die hard.

He walked through the thinning crowd of people twice, but couldn't find Kenny anywhere. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as his eyes rested on the small patch of trees just north of the parking lot that was well known as a hide out for couples. He cursed under his breathe as he stormed across the lot and into the trees, trying to make as much noise as possible to alert Kenny of his presence.

"Shit, man!" Kenny yelled as he approached, jumping away from Bebe, who was resting her back against a tree.

"Jesus, Kenny, can't you go five minutes without trying to fuck someone?!" Cartman growled as Bebe made some mumbled excuse to duck out of the trees and head back to her family.

"Damnit, Cartman, you're such a cock block!" Kenny rolled his eyes at his irritated friend and leaned up against the same tree that Bebe had been pinned against.

"What do you need?" He asked, crossing his arms and starring straight ahead at the profile of the school, barely visible from where they were.

"Can I crash at your place tonight?" Cartman's voice held a small hint of the old whine he used to use when he didn't get his way as a child.

"What for?" Kenny questioned, glancing sideways at him as he shifted against the large oak.

"Well, my mom's been talking to Stoch and… I just think it would be better if I didn't go home tonight." Cartman nearly whispered, his eyes fixed resolutely on the dark green grass under his feet.

"Butters?!" Kenny exclaimed loudly, his body jerking away from the tree in surprise and his eyes widening comically.

"Psh," Cartman scoffed, rolling his eyes. "No, ya perv. Steven."

"Oh, yeah." Kenny calmed down immediately and went back to resting against the tree. "Forgot they separated." He paused, momentarily forgetting Cartman's original question.

"Right," he started after he'd remembered. "Well, Stan's already asked me to stay at his house tonight, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you tagged along."

"Yeah, alright." Cartman snapped, masking his discomfort with annoyance.

"It looks like everyone's finally leaving." Kenny observed, starring at the parents and students all making their way to their cars.

"Think you could give me a ride?" Cartman asked as they began walking back to the parking lot. "My mom drove me here and, as you can see, she's a little preoccupied."

Kenny glanced over his shoulder to see Liane leading Steven Stoch to her car, her hands gripping his ass through his jeans. Kenny frowned, wondering if all the things that Cartman's mom did to him even affected him anymore. He never said anything about it, or even talked about his mom, ever. He pretty much avoided her at all possible costs, which included late night drop bys to Kenny's house, where he would just sit in his room, staying unusually quiet until they both fell asleep.

"Sure, dude." Kenny replied, digging his keys out of his jean pocket, having to push his graduation uniform out of the way again.

"Why haven't you taken that thing off yet?" Cartman questioned. He had ditched his just seconds after they stepped off the stage.

"I don't know." Kenny shrugged and pulled at the collar of the gown, a small frown on his lips. He figured he just wasn't quite ready to let go of high school yet.

They got into Kenny's beat up red pickup truck and he shoved the keys into the ignition. Cartman sat back, not even bothering to try and put his seat belt on. It had been severely brunt by the previous owner, making it stick to the side of the interior.

Kenny took a deep breathe and patted his dash board, trying to coax it into starting with soft spoken words as he closed his eyes and turned the key. It sputtered a few times, but eventually roared to life and Kenny pounded a fist into the air, smiling lovingly down at his car.

Cartman rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. He was too used to this asinine ritual to think it too odd or out of the ordinary. Besides, it was Kenny, and he was prone to doing somewhat eccentric things at times.

The parking lot was completely empty now, so Kenny haphazardly threw it into reverse and pressed down hard on the gas pedal.

"Have you said your last goodbyes?" Kenny stopped so they were facing the school and starred ahead.

Cartman followed his gaze to take in the barely illuminated silhouette of South Park High in a way that he probably never would again. He didn't see it as just a school in that moment, but a place where nearly all of his memories over the past four years had taken place.

He smiled to himself and nodded. "Yeah, Ken. Now let's go."

"You got it." Kenny replied after a few seconds, voice a bit quieter than usual as he threw his car into drive and sped out of the parking lot.

It was only a five minute drive from the school to Stan's house, so they found themselves standing outside his door in no time.

"What are you doing?" Kenny questioned, looking amusedly at Cartman's hand as it rose up to ring the door bell.

"I was gunna ring the fuckin' bell." Cartman spat, looking confusedly at his blond friend who merely chuckled slightly and pushed the door open.

"Dude, it's _Stan's_ house. Not your fuckin' date to the Junior Prom." He laughed to himself as he stepped past a sneering Cartman and into the house.

Stan's parents were in the kitchen, looking tired but happy. Sharon had a coffee mug wrapped up in her hands and Randy was leaning against the kitchen table where he had a beer sitting. They both stopped and turned when they heard the front door open, and Randy poked his head around the door to look into the living room.

"Oh, hey guys." He greeted, giving Kenny and Cartman a small wave.

"Hey Randy." Kenny nodded.

"Who is it?" Sharon asked before appearing in the doorway herself and smiling at the two boys.

"Stan didn't say you two were coming over tonight!" She exclaimed, but didn't sound upset; only surprised.

"Sorry." Kenny smiled sheepishly at her, rubbing the back of his neck in a wonderful act of shyness.

"Don't worry about it." She insisted, waving her hand in front of her. "Stan should be up in his room, you guys go ahead. Randy and I will probably go to bed soon though, so try not to be too loud."

"Right." Kenny nodded, and he and Cartman made their way up the stairs, taking an almost immediate right as they barged straight into his room.

"Hey man." Kenny greeted upon seeing Stan sitting on his bed, starring blankly at the small television hanging from his wall. Stan turned and smiled in greeting.

"Hope you don't mind- I brought the fat ass." Kenny pointed behind himself at Cartman who was idling in the doorway, like he was ready to bolt if necessary.

"Kenny!" Cartman hissed, narrowing his eyes angrily at his friend.

"Nah, it's no problem." Stan replied as he stood up from his bed to turn off his TV. Kenny hopped onto Stan's bed, occupying the spot he had just gotten up from. Stan rolled his eyes as he sat on the chair at the head of his bed as Kenny stretched out and yawned, curling himself into Stan's pillow.

"So, when were you thinking about leaving?" Kenny asked sleepily as he looked up at his black haired friend through heavily lidded eyes.

Stan shrugged and placed his elbows on his knees, letting his hands fall limply between his legs. "It all depends on when we can get everything ready."

"What's everything?" Cartman questioned as he stepped further into the room to sit down in front of an old dresser, right between the bed and Stan's chair. "I mean, all I have to do is pack my bags. I could be ready to leave this place tonight, man."

"It's not that simple." Stan began, shaking his head. "First, we have to get a car that can actually hold all four of us comfortably. We probably won't have a place to stay right away once we get to wherever we're going, so we could be living out of our car for a while."

"Living out of our car?" Cartman looked affronted as Stan narrowed his eyes threateningly at him.

"Hey, no one's forcing you into this, Cartman. Feel free to pussy out, but make it soon because I'm not wasting my time on you if you're not really in."

Cartman held his arms up in defense. "I never said I was out man, I just wasn't aware we'd be living like hippies."

Stan rolled his eyes dismissively as he continued. "Anyway, we need a car, we have to make sure we all have the money we need, we should figure out where we're headed to, we need to pack, and we have to tell our parents."

"I thought we'd agreed on Cali?" Kenny perked up, lifting his head wearily from Stan's pillow.

"Well, that was just an idea I threw out." Stan shrugged. "There's loads of other places we could go, really." He explained, his face lighting up with the same enthusiasm it held earlier at the school.

"I vote California." Kenny sat up, propping his elbow on the bed and laying his head in his hand. "The chicks there are fuckin' hot, man." He added in a dreamy voice.

Stan snickered and knocked his friend's arm away from his head, making him fall into the mattress. "Based on what, Ken?"

"Pure instinct, dude." Kenny replied, smiling lazily up at him.

"I've got no problem with California." Cartman commented. "As long as we stay away from all the hippies and homeless people." He wrinkled his nose in distaste as Kenny threw a limp hand over the edge of the bed and hit him over the head.

"Okay." Stan nodded to himself, smiling happily. "I'm sure Kyle won't have a problem with it either, but I'll text him in the morning. I still want all of us to get together tomorrow."

"Right." Cartman nodded, his back resting against the hard wood of Stan's dresser. "When exactly are we supposed to tell our parents, though, Stan?" He looked up at his friend through his bangs, watching as he unconsciously bit his lip in thought.

"Later rather than sooner, I would think." He responded, nodding to himself. "They may get suspicious of the car and stuff, but if they found out too early they might be able to do something to stop us."

"So, what, we tell them the day we leave?" Cartman scoffed sarcastically, but Stan cast him a concurring look.

"Yeah, that's actually a great idea." Stan sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his dark hair. "That way they won't have any time to tell us no."

Kenny shrugged as he wriggled his way under Stan's bed sheets, a peaceful smile on his face. "Sounds good to me." He yawned as he stretched out lazily and let his eyes fall closed.

Stan stood up and glanced down at Kenny, and then Cartman.

"Well, looks like Ken gets the bed." He stated, bending down to pull out two sleeping bags from under his bed. "You don't mind, do you?" He tilted his head to the side when his arm brushed against Cartman's leg, as he rolled the two blue sacks out on the floor.

Cartman shrugged as he crawled across the floor to sit on top of his sleeping bag. "Nah, not so much."

Stan shot him an odd look before reaching over his nightstand to flick the lights off, and climbing into his sleeping bag. Cartman followed suit, taking vague notice of the heavy, rhythmical breathing coming from Stan's bed, signaling that Kenny had fallen asleep.

The two of them were silent for a long time, both uncommonly aware that the other was wide awake, but neither finding anything interesting to say.

Stan shifted around under his covers, so that he was lying on his back. "Cartman?" He whispered cautiously, starring up at his ceiling that was painted black from the darkness spilling in through his bedroom window.

"What?" Cartman responded, starring up at the same spot as Stan.

"When did you change so much?" He questioned, so quietly that Cartman was afraid he'd heard him wrong.

"What do you mean?" He whispered back, eyes darting to glance at his figure, barely discernable in the dark.

"I mean," Stan shifted in his bag again so that he was starring at the side of Cartman's face. "You kind of used to be a completely insensitive asshole, and I can't quite figure out when you stopped being so… dickish."

"I wasn't a dick to everyone," Cartman declared. "Mostly Kyle." He yawned tiredly before his eyes widened in astonishment at what he'd said. He turned his head quickly to look at Stan, whose brows were furrowed in an intense kind of thought, not really seeing him anymore.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Stan finally concluded. "Why _were_ you so mean to him all the time?"

"Because he's a stupid, greedy Jew." Cartman answered, but his voice sounded mechanical, even to him, and hardly a hint of his old malice was present at all.

Stan bit his lip thoughtfully, starring straight at Cartman's face. "I don't think I believe you." He whispered.

Cartman sighed, rubbing his temples in exasperation as he rolled onto his back again.

"Believe what you want, Stan. I'm going to sleep."

Cartman closed his eyes, very aware of the fact that Stan was still boring a hole into the side of his face, but he fell asleep quickly. Stan followed suit not too long after, falling victim to the comforting sounds of Cartman and Kenny's slow, deep breathing.

He wasn't about to end their conversation there, though. He had to find out more about why Cartman had stopped picking on Kyle- and he had the whole summer to do it.

* * *

Thanks for reading, everyone! It'd be great if you could give me some advice, or ideas. I'm open to anything- bring it on :)


	2. Just Like They Used To

**A/N: **Wow, chapter two already?! You guys gave me such awesome feedback that I couldn't help but go finish this chapter XD So thank you everyone who reviewed- you guys are freakin' awesome!

So, this chapter is a bit shorter than the last, but I plan on the next one being longer than both :)

ENJOY!

* * *

"Kyle, bubbe, you have to wake up now!" A shrill voice demanded as Kyle rolled over defiantly in his bed, shoving his face into his pillow. "Kyle Broflovski, you wake up this instant! You're brother is going to be late for practice and so-help-me-Abraham I'll ground you for a week, young man!!"

Kyle groaned and rolled onto his side, cracking his eyes open slightly to stare blurrily at the analog clock next to his bed. He made a strangled noise in his throat as he glared up at his mom.

"Ma!" He yelled sleepily. "It's only five in the morning!" He gripped his pillow tightly as she narrowed her eyes dangerously at him.

"Don't you talk back to me!" She demanded, placing her hands on her wide hips. "I need you to make Ike's lunch, get him cleaned up, feed him breakfast, and get him to practice at eight!"

"What do you have to do that's so important?" He questioned as he threw his covers reluctantly off and stumbled across his room to find some clothes.

"Your father has a new case he's working on and I have to clean, Kyle! How do you think you're home stays as nice as it does, huh? Do you think we have money for a maid, Kyle, because we don't! It's all _me_- I do it all for you and all I'm asking for is you to get your brother ready to take to practice, I don't think that's so much considering everything I do for you!"

She was in full bitch mode now, Kyle noted as he balled up his clothes and brushed past her, trying his best to ignore her on going rampage. He nearly sprinted to the bathroom down the hall and locked the door securely behind him, happy to have some peace for at least a few minutes.

Kyle showered quickly, threw on a pair of jeans and a dark green shirt, ran a brush haphazardly through his tangle of wild, curly hair, and made his way down the hall to his brother's room.

"Ike?" He called hesitantly as he knocked softly on the door. There was no answer so he pushed the door open and stepped in. It was only a little after five, so the room was pretty dark with the blinds all drawn and Kyle could only see a large Ike-shaped lump in the center of his bed.

"Ike!" Kyle called a bit louder as he stepped cautiously through his room, trying not to trip on anything. "You've got to wake up, Ike, It's time to get ready for baseball practice." Kyle soothed as he placed a hand on his ruffled, black hair. The boy moved slightly and opened his eyes.

"Kyle?" He asked with confusion as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Yeah, come on, I've got to get you ready for baseball today, mom and dad are too busy." Ike nodded groggily as he climbed awkwardly out of bed, nearly tangling himself up in his sheets.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Kyle questioned as he idled near the door, waiting for him to stumble blindly across his room. His hair was a complete mess- he had let it grow long and shaggy and it hung limply around his face and stuck up in odd angles in the back. Kyle laughed to himself as Ike blinked stupidly up at him.

"Uh- Pancakes?" He offered.

"All right, I'll go see if we have some. You just go take a shower and get ready." Kyle waved him off as he turned down the hall and made his way downstairs.

His father was sitting in the living room, about a million papers scattered all around him, completely absorbed in his work. Kyle stood not more than three feet away from his for a whole five minutes without him even noticing.

"Morning, dad." Kyle finally spoke, making him jump and cause some papers to float to the floor.

"Oh, hello Kyle. I didn't see you there." He greeted, putting on a smile as he turned to his son for a moment before immersing himself back into his work.

Kyle sighed as he padded across the old, shaggy carpet of the living room and stepped onto the cold tiles of the kitchen. He opened up the freezer and pulled out a package of frozen pancakes. He placed a few on a plate and threw them in the microwave before spotting the full coffee pot sitting on the counter. He reached up into the cupboard and got himself a mug as he yawned and glanced at the clock. It was only five thirty.

Normally, Kyle wasn't a big coffee drinker. He preferred to leave that to the Goths- and Tweak. He made a few exceptions, however, when it came to being woken up by his psychotic mother at five in the morning to wait on his little brother.

He filled his mug with steaming coffee and stirred some cream and sugar in before wrapping it up in his hands. Kyle closed his green eyes as he let the warmth of it sink in. He glanced towards the microwave and took a quick sip before setting the mug back on the counter and getting some syrup out of the pantry. He yanked the door to the microwave open before it could beep at him and set the warm plate aside while he warmed up the syrup.

"Hey Kyle!" A cheery voice from the door way greeted, and he turned to find Ike, completely dressed and showered.

"Hey. That was quick." He commented as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, I just took a shower and threw on my practice stuff." He shrugged as he looked down at his old, holey jersey.

"Well, you're just in time." He stated, just as the microwave beeped. He took the syrup out and picked up the plate of pancakes to set down in front of Ike.

He smiled gratefully up at Kyle. "Thanks!"

"No problem. What do you want for lunch today?" He questioned as he made his way towards the fridge.

"Cold meat sandwich." Ike replied as he steadily drowned his pancakes in syrup. "With milk. And a banana."

Kyle nodded to himself as he got everything out and set it on the counter. He was just about ready to start Ike's sandwich when the phone rang. He waited for a second to see if anyone would pick it up, but he could hear the dull roar of a vacuum cleaner droning upstairs and he figured his father was still tied up in his work. He placed the bread and meat aside as he walked across the kitchen to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" He leaned against the wall and twisted the cord around his fingers as he waited for a reply.

"Hi, is this Kyle?" The person asked. He sounded kind of familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Yeah, who's this?" He questioned, furrowing his brows in thought.

"Oh, hello, Kyle! It's your Uncle David." Uncle David? Kyle thought to himself. Why would he be calling at six in the morning?

"Oh, yeah, right. What's up?"

"Well, I need to talk to your dad. Could you get him for me?" He sounded somewhat anxious, like he wanted this call to be over and done with already.

"Actually," Kyle glanced around the doorway at his dad, whose nose was currently shoved into a huge stack of papers. "He's really busy right now. Could I take a message?"

"Uh- yeah, sure, okay." He spoke quickly, seeming to make up his mind fast. "Just tell him that I need those numbers he looked up for my car."

"Your car?" Kyle questioned before he could stop himself.

"Yeah, I'm trying to get rid of my old Volkswagen- you know, the kind they used to drive around in the sixties. I had your dad do some legal work for me, so I was just calling to see if he'd got it." He paused for a second to take a breath. "The thing is, my wife doesn't know I still have it," he started, sounding anxious again. "I told her I sold it a long time ago, and I did try, but no one will buy the damn thing! I mean, who really needs a gas guzzling hippie van in this economy! I'm never going to get rid of the stupid thing!" He nearly yelled in frustration as a slow smile crept its way on to Kyle's face.

"How much are you selling it for?" Kyle asked casually, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"God damn, I don't know. I'd probably be willing to just about _give_ the thing to any sorry sucker that wanted it." Dave replied, a desperate ring to his voice.

Kyle was silent as several ideas started running through his head. If they were really planning on going all the way to California, there was no way they could do it in Kenny's truck. Or Cartman's Honda. They were going to need something much bigger that could hold all of them easily. It was very likely that they would be spending a majority of their time in their car, so why wouldn't they want it to be roomier than what they have? Besides, if Kyle would admit it, he was a bit claustrophobic.

"Listen," Kyle started, lowering his voice and hoping that Ike wasn't eavesdropping. "How about I take it off your hands for five hundred?"

"Are you trying to be funny, Kyle?" He sounded incredulous and a little pissed at the idea of being duped.

"No, not at all. I'm entirely serious." Kyle continued, holding the phone close to his face as he tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. "I will take it for five hundred, _if_-" Kyle held his breath for a moment, hoping this would work. "You promise not to tell my parents. I'll even drive up to Denver to get it from you."

Dave was quiet for a long time, his breathing heavy as Kyle waited for his answer. "Shit," he finally started, sounding almost relieved. "Okay, you got a deal, kid. When can you come get it?"

Kyle nearly jumped up in excitement, but he managed to compose himself. "I'm not sure yet, I'll call you later today. All right?"

"Okay, kid. I hope you know what you're doing." He replied, sounding almost concerned.

"Don't worry. I know exactly what I'm doing." Kyle reassured as he hung up the phone and simply stared at it for a moment. That was almost too perfect. He glanced back to the kitchen table, where Ike had just finished his pancakes and was standing up to set his plate next to the sink.

"Who was that?" He inquired, glancing sideways at Kyle.

"Just Uncle David." He shrugged as he glanced up at the clock. They still had two and a half hours before Ike had to leave for practice. Why the fuck did his mom have to wake up him at five in the morning?

"Why don't you go get your stuff together while I finish your lunch?" Kyle suggested as he opened the container of cold meat.

"Kay." Ike bounced cheerfully out of the room and up the stairs, leaving Kyle alone in the kitchen. He thought about texting Stan and telling him about the van, but decided it was too early.

When he was done with Ike's sandwich, he stuffed it into a brown paper bag and set it on the kitchen table before grabbing his coffee and sitting down to think.

It was strange that they were all actually going to leave. It would be awesome, really, but it just didn't feel real yet- not even with the prospect of the car. Kyle guessed it was one of those things that simply wouldn't feel real until it was actually happening.

Kyle simply sat at the kitchen table for the next hour and a half, thinking about ways he could tell his parents he was leaving. In reality, it was very unlikely that he was really going anywhere. His mom would probably call the cops if he tried to leave.

The more he thought about it, though, the more determined he became to get away. This was just the opportunity he had been waiting for to tell his mother that she was out of line, and to make her let him go. She couldn't really do anything anyways. He was eighteen, and free to go wherever and do whatever he wanted.

"Kyle, you ready to go?" Ike's voice interrupted his train of thought as he starred at him from the door way. "It's eight thirty."

"Yeah, I'm coming." Kyle stood up, set his half full mug next to the sink, and grabbed Ike's lunch before following him into the living room. He snatched the keys off the hook next to the door as they made their way outside.

Ike raced to the passenger side door of their parents SUV, which Kyle got to take advantage of when he needed, and hopped inside. Kyle hauled himself into the car and threw the keys in the ignition.

The drive to drop Ike off was relatively short, since his team met at the elementary school, which was only a ten minute drive from their house. After Ike left, Kyle decided it was late enough to text Stan.

_Hey man, I've got some good news, call me when you wake up._

Kyle had no more than closed his phone, and it started to ring. He smiled to himself as he answered.

"Hey, dude."

"Kyle! What's your good news?" Stan questioned, sounding excited.

"I'd rather wait to tell you in person. Can you chill?"

"Yeah, of course. Kenny and Cartman are over, too. Hurry up!" He hung up before Kyle could say another word, leaving him smiling confusedly at his phone. Stan was so thrilled about leaving- Kyle hadn't seen him act like this in ages.

Kyle made it to Stan's house in less than five minutes- he lived just around the block from their old elementary school. When he got out of the car, he could see Stan, Kenny, and Cartman sitting around the various seats in front of the television. They seemed to be talking about something, but stopped once Kyle walked through the front door.

"Hey guys." He nodded at them before sitting down on the couch next to Stan.

"Hey, man." Stan grinned widely at him as he clapped him on the back. "You gunna tell us your news?"

Kyle started telling them about the phone call from his Uncle and the car he was looking to get rid of.

"And I figured we might need a bigger car, since we'll probably have to sleep in there most nights- at least until we find some place to stay."

"That's exactly what I said." Stan beamed at his friend as Cartman rolled his eyes from the loveseat.

"Right." Kyle nodded, glad they were both on the same page- not that it was unusual. "So I told him I'd buy it from him for five hundred and come pick it up in Denver, if he promised not tell my parents."

"This is perfect!" Stan exclaimed, a toothy smile on his face as he leaned back against the couch.

"When should we go get it?" Kyle asked, turning to face Stan. "I told him I'd call him later today to let him know."

"I guess tomorrow would be good, if it's okay with him." Stan suggested. "What we really need to worry about now, though, is where we're going to keep it until we're ready to go."

"I can keep it at my house." Kenny suggested immediately, sitting up from his slouched position in the leather chair.

"Really, Ken?" Stan leaned over Kyle to look at him. "That'd be great."

Kenny nodded, leaning his elbow onto the arm rest and propping up his head. "Yeah, it's no problem. We have that huge garage in back that no one ever uses cause it's so full of junk- I can store it in there for a while. I doubt my parents would care even if they did find it, though."

"Right." Stan nodded in understanding. Kenny's parents rarely took notice of him, so it was expected that they wouldn't ask questions if they found it. "Thanks Kenny."

"It's the least I can do." Kenny shrugged, looking at the ground. "I'm not going to be able to come up with as much money as you guys, so I'll help however else I can."

"Don't worry about it, Kenny." Stan stated, smiling warmly at him.

"Yeah, man. We get it." Kyle spoke up, mirroring Stan's soft expression.

"We'll take care of your poor ass while we're gone." Cartman commented and, despite his sarcastic tone, it was almost an endearment. Stan's eyes widened slightly at the brunette, remembering their conversation from the night before. Cartman caught his expression and sneered threateningly at him, but he just smiled innocently back.

"Thanks, guys." Kenny gave them a grateful smile, though he still felt upset. He appreciated all that his friends did for him, but sometimes he wished he could give a bit more back to them.

"So, Stan," Kyle started, shifting to face him again with a nervous look on his face. "When are we leaving?"

"Stan thought for a moment as everyone starred at him. "I think we could take off by next Wednesday."

Everyone nodded in agreement, though Kyle still looked apprehensive.

"Oh, and we've decided not to tell our parents until the day we leave, okay Kyle?" Stan added, giving his friend a reassuring look. "That way they won't have any time to tell us no or do something to stop us."

"Righ, okay." Kyle nodded anxiously, feeling slightly nauseous as an image of his mother's irate face swam into his vision.

"So, what kind of car are we getting from your Uncle, Jew?" Cartman questioned, ignoring the half-hearted glare Kyle gave him at the derogatory word.

"It's a Volkswagen." Kyle stated, and was immediately met with several confused stares. "You know, one of those huge vans that hippies used to ride around in?" He explained, making a motion with his hands.

"Aw, the fuck, Broflovski?!" Cartman whined, throwing his hands into the air in frustration.

"What?" Kyle snapped, narrowing his eyes dangerously at him.

"People are gunna think we're god damned tree huggers riding around in one of those fuckin' mystery mobiles!" Cartman exclaimed, glaring back at Kyle.

"Well sorry I couldn't find something more specially suited for you, your highness." Kyle huffed, crossing his arms over his chest in agitation. Even though they rarely fought like they used to anymore, there was still something about Cartman that could set him off all too easily.

"No, seriously you guys, don't forget to pack your weed and acid, cause Kyle found us a car with fucking shag carpet in the back!" Cartman stood up suddenly and found himself towering over Kyle, looking more pissed off than he had in years.

"Cartman, back off." Stan nearly growled, though he didn't stand up or try and stop him.

"What's you're fucking deal, Cartman?!" Kyle yelled, his face glowing red with anger. "If you have such a big fucking deal with the car, then don't come!"

Cartman bent over so his face only inches away from Kyle's, his brown eyes boring into his green ones. "Don't tell me what to do, you fucking Jew." He whispered menacingly.

"Fuck you!" Kyle yelled, jumping up and causing Cartman to back away slightly.

"Whoa guys, calm down. That's enough." Kenny was suddenly between the two and Stan was working on pulling Kyle back.

"God dammit." Cartman mumbled under his breathe, and his eyes flashed with something other than anger for the briefest second. Something almost like a smile.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Stan asked confusedly after he'd pulled Kyle halfway across the room. "You haven't fought like that in years!"

Kenny and Stan looked between the two of them, waiting for an explanation that neither of them had. It was like some old spark had been reignited in them and, as angry as they both were, they seemed to feel more alive, more _real_, then they had in a long time.

"I have to go." Cartman nearly whispered, his eyes locked on Kyle with a blank expression.

Kenny nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll give you a ride."

"No." Cartman demanded softly, but forcefully, as he shook off his hand. "I'll walk."

Kenny stepped back and gave him an understanding look before Cartman turned on his heels and walked quickly out the door.

"Well that was a fuckin' blast from the past." Kenny murmured under his breathe as he flopped back down on his chair.

"Yeah, what the hell was that, Kyle?" Stan questioned, giving his friend an inquisitive look.

"I have no idea." Kyle answered, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

"I thought you guys got over that shit like, three years ago." Kenny commented, starring thoughtfully at Kyle.

"I never got over anything," Kyle started, shaking his head. "I just know that Cartman stopped being such an asshole to me one day, and that was it. You guys know I only get upset because he starts it, so I didn't go looking to piss him off. He just stopped trying to get me killed or do embarrassing things to owe him a life debt."

"He still hasn't stopped teasing you, though." Kenny mentioned, somewhat off handedly.

Kyle scoffed and gave Kenny an amused look. "Teasing me? You make him sound like a little boy picking on the girl he likes."

Kenny raised an eyebrow at the red head. "Kyle, he's constantly doing things to irritate you, even if they aren't as bad as they used to be. He cheats off your tests, steals the answers to your homework, calls you names, and everyday single day for the past twelve years of our lives he's tried to take food off your tray during lunch. Even after he lost weight."

Stan looked over at Kyle, a strange expression on his face. "He's right, Kyle."

"Okay," Kyle rolled his eyes and shook his head. "So what are you trying to tell me? Cartman likes to piss me off? Sorry, but I already knew that."

"Sometimes I think he likes to piss you off a little _too _much." Kenny mumbled to himself so no one else could hear.

"Well it must not bother you too much anymore, since you've put up with it for this long." Stan reasoned.

"Are you kidding me?!" Kyle nearly shouted as he glared incredulously at his friend. "He's always tried to make my life as difficult as humanly possible, Stan. I _hate _it!"

"But you don't hate him." Kenny stated. Kyle gave him a funny look, so he explained. "You said you hate what he does, not the fact that it's him doing it."

Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation and glanced at the clock on Stan's DVR. "Whatever." He sighed heavily as he stood up and started walking towards the door. "I have to go pick up my brother from baseball practice. I'll see you guys later."

"See ya, Kyle." Stan frowned slightly as he watched him go. He turned to look at Kenny, still sitting in his chair. "Do you think they're going to start fighting all the time again?"

"Naw, I have an idea." He declared, smiling to himself.

* * *

**A/N: **Oooh, what does Kenny have planned?! And why did Cartman freak out? You'll find out soon :)

I love your comments- pretty much anything you could think of will make me happy, so don't be shy to give me some constructive criticism.

THANKS!


	3. Plan In Action

**A/N: **Yay, chapter three! This was such a fun chap to write ^^ I know it's kind of long and you guys are probably wondering when they're going to leave, but I just wanted to make sure that I had a good background story to it without just pulling crap out of my ass as I wrote. So they will probably take off either at the end of next chapter or the chapter after. Seriously though, this shit is so much fun to write:) I know it took a while longer to get this chap out, but it is longer than the other two- quite a bit longer, actually.

I guess I'm done blabbing about nothing important- ENJOY!

* * *

The next morning, Kyle was woken up by his cell phone going off. He swung his arm over the side of his bed to pick it up from his night stand, not even bothering to check who it was.

"Hello?" He answered as he flipped it open, his voice thick with sleep.

"Hey, dude. It's Stan." His friends familiar voice spoke, sounding too cheerful for Kyle at- he rolled over to glance at his clock- eleven thirty in the morning?! He must have overslept.

"What's up?" Kyle sat up slowly and rubbed his forehead.

"I need you to come over so I can give you everyone's share of money for the car. What time did you tell your Uncle you'd come today?"

Kyle swung his legs over his bed and stepped onto his carpeted floor. "Around three. Is Kenny going to drive me up?"

"Oh, uh. I'm not sure," Stan sputtered out, sounding suddenly anxious. "Should I tell him and Cartman to come over, too?"

"Yeah, sure man. I'll be over in a bit; I just have to get dressed." Kyle balanced his phone between his ear and shoulder as he searched through his drawers for some clothes.

"Get dressed? Dude, you're always up and dressed before nine. Did you oversleep?" Stan sounded slightly amused and Kyle glared at his phone.

"Whatever, dude. I'll be there in a few minutes." He quickly flipped his phone shut and glanced out his bedroom window. It looked pretty nice outside, so he threw on some light clothes and decided he'd walk the few blocks to Stan's house instead of borrowing his parent's car.

"Ma!" He called as he stepped out of his room. "I'm going over to Stan's house."

"Oh?" Came his mother's voice from a few feet away. Kyle turned to see her step out of her bedroom with her hands on her hips. "And what time will you be home?"

Kyle thought for a second. Driving up to Denver and back would take about two hours.

"Not until this afternoon sometime," he began, until he caught the look on his mother's face. "Don't worry; I'll be home before dinner, okay?" He assured, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Well, okay." She consented, her face softening slightly. "Just make sure you're here by six _at the latest._"

"Okay, ma." Kyle brushed past her quickly to run down the stairs and out the front door. He held up his arm up to block out the sun as he stepped off his porch and began the familiar path to Stan's house.

The walk took about ten minutes, and by the time he got there Kenny's pickup and Cartman's Honda were already sitting in the driveway. Kyle jogged up the front steps and walked inside to find Randy sitting on the couch, a fresh beer in his hand.

"Hey, Kyle." He greeted off-handedly, not taking his eyes off the television. "They're up in Stan's room."

"Kay, thanks." Kyle started up the stairs and pushed open the door when he heard his friend's voices just inside.

"Hey, man!" Kenny looked up from his spot on the carpeted floor and grinned at the red head as he stepped over him.

"Hey guys." Kyle greeted as he took a spot next to Stan on his bed. "So, did you get all the money?"

"Yeah, we ended up pulling together four hundred. Though Cartman was reluctant to pitch in anything towards a 'fucking hippie van.'" Kenny smirked up at Cartman, who was sitting on the chair at the head of Stan's bed. The brunette simply flicked off his blond haired friend.

"All right, great." Kyle laid back on the bed and placed his hands behind his head. "So are you going to drive me up, Kenny?"

It was silent for a few seconds as Kenny sat up and scratched the back of his head. "Actually," he started, sounding slightly nervous. "I can't. You know my truck isn't in the best shape, man. I don't think it could make it all the way up to Denver."

Kyle sat up, his brows furrowed in confusion. "How are we going to get there, then?"

"Well," Kenny unnecessarily drew out the word. "Eric could always give you a lift up."

"What?" Both Kyle and Cartman exclaimed in unison.

"Okay, seriously?" Cartman sat up straight in his chair, looking down at Kenny with a slightly shocked face. "I'm not taking the Jew up to get his hippie car from his freakin' Jew Uncle."

"Well, then I guess we don't get a car to drive to California." Stan spoke up, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Why don't we all just go together?" Kyle reasoned, looking at Kenny and Stan imploringly.

"Because," Stan started, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "If all three of us go, it will look a little suspicious to our parents. They'll be wondering where we all had to go together, and we don't need the questioning right now."

"Whatever," Cartman started, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away indignantly. "I'm not taking him."

"Yes, you are, Cartman." Stan stated with an air of finality. "Or you're not coming with us- period."

Cartman shot Stan an angry glare before glancing down at Kyle with disgust. "Fine. I'll take the stupid Jew who doesn't even have his own fuckin' car yet."

"Fuck you, Cartman! I don't want to go with you, either!" Kyle shouted, growing red in anger.

"Well too fuckin' bad." Cartman deadpanned, frowning down at the ground.

Kyle huffed angrily and crossed his arms. "We should probably leave around one thirty." He suggested quietly, not looking at Cartman.

"Kay, whatever." He replied, starring resolutely at the wall above Kyle's head.

"Well, what should we do until then, guys?" Kenny questioned, sitting up a bit in his chair and grinning happily at everyone. Stan smiled back, but Kyle and Cartman only answered with silence as they continued to avoid eye contact.

"Let's go down to Tweak's coffee for a bit, I'm fuckin' exhausted and I can't seem to really wake up." Stan suggested as he climbed over Kyle to hop off his bed.

"I'll drive!" Kenny exclaimed, seeming exceptionally cheerful as he rushed out of the room.

"What's his deal?" Kyle questioned Stan as they made their way downstairs.

Stan smiled to himself for a second. "I think he's just excited to leave." He replied nonchalantly.

Kyle gave him a skeptical look as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Kyle knew Stan well enough to tell when he was lying.

"No, really dude. Don't lie to me." Kyle narrowed his eyes at him.

Stan paused for a moment at the front door, his hand resting on the brass knob. "I'm not lying to you, man," he shrugged before pushing the door open and stepping outside. "Why would you think I am?"

"I know when you're lying, Stan." Kyle replied, rolling his eyes as he shoved his shoulder lightly. Stan smirked at him before shoving him back. Kyle was smiling now, forgetting about his original question as he went to push Stan harder, but was interrupted.

"Oh for the love of God!" An annoyed voice from behind the two boys made them stop, eyebrows raised, as they looked around to see Cartman with an angry expression on his face. "Why don't you two get a fucking room?!"

Kyle narrowed his eyes dangerously at Cartman, but Stan's hand on his shoulder stopped him from jumping at him.

"Cartman, calm down." Stan soothed, smiling slightly at the boy and not moving his hand from Kyle's shoulder. Cartman noticed, and his eyes flickered quickly between Stan's face and his hand.

"Freakin' faggot." He spat before walking around them, but it didn't hold much venom- it sounded more like a simple statement.

Kyle watched him jump into the passenger seat of Kenny's car with a confused look plastered on his pale face.

"How did you do that?" He asked Stan, who finally removed his hand from his shoulder to grasp his forearm and pull him towards Kenny's truck.

"Do what?" He questioned innocently.

"Make Cartman shut up." Kyle replied, making undecipherable hand motions as they stopped in front of the car door.

"Uh, I didn't spaz out on him, for one." Stan started, smirking at the red head.

Kyle growled angrily and stepped past him to hop into the backseat of Kenny's truck, Stan following right after.

When they got to Tweak's coffee house, they found a booth near the front that they all slid into. Kenny and Cartman sat on one side, Stan and Kyle on the other.

"What do you guys all want?" Kyle asked, standing up next to the table like their waiter. Stan and Kyle found it easier to take turns paying for everyone when they went somewhere, instead of embarrassing Kenny when he didn't have enough money.

"I'll just have a regular coffee." Stan replied, rubbing his head tiredly.

"Same." Kenny waved a dismissive hand.

Kyle was about to walk away when Cartman interrupted him.

"Aren't you forgetting someone, Kahl?" He droned in his old adopted accent, stretching Kyle's name into some strange southern drawl.

"Get your own coffee, fatass." Kyle responded off handedly, trying his best not to blow up on him, since that tactic appeared to work for Stan.

"But, Kahl!" He whined pathetically, causing the few people in the place to look around. "That's not fair."

Kyle took a deep breathe and turned to face him. He caught himself smirking slightly at the ridiculous pouting face Cartman had put on.

"Fine," Kyle placed his palms on the table in front of Cartman, bending down slightly. "What do you want?"

"Hmm," Cartman put a finger up to his chin in thought. "I want an iced single Vente, 5 pump peppermint, caramel sauce top, heavy ice, extra whip, vanilla." He paused for a second, taking in the shocked look on Kyle's face. "Oh, and tell them not to forget the fucking straw- I hate that."

Kenny and Stan sat in silence as Kyle's mouth fell open before he clamped it shut in rage. "No freakin' way!" He nearly screamed, throwing his hands into the air. "I can't remember all of that! And it's like a fuckin' six dollar drink!"

Cartman rolled his eyes. "Kyle, seriously, it's not that hard to remember." He responded simply as he folded his arms onto the table.

"This is ridiculous." Kyle looked to Stan and Kenny for some sort of support, but they just smiled weakly at him and shrugged. "You're insane!" Kyle accused before turning around and stomping towards the counter muttering, "He thinks _I'm _the faggot- what kind of guy orders coffee like that?"

Kyle ordered Stan and Kenny's drink and just ordered the first thing he saw on the menu for Cartman, not even bothering to recall what he'd told him. He waited near the counter for the barista to mix up the drinks, tapping his foot absentmindedly against the green tiles on the floor.

"Here you go, sir." The barista flashed Kyle a smile as she placed the drinks next to him on the counter.

"Thanks." He replied as he gathered them up and walked carefully back to the booth.

"Here." Kyle sat the coffees on the table before sitting down back down next to Stan.

"Ahh, yes." Stan grabbed his cup gratefully and took a drink.

Kyle watched discreetly as Cartman went to take the first sip of his drink. "The fuck, Kyle?" The brunette sputtered as he choked on his coffee. "This is not what I ordered, Jew."

Kyle rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "No duh, fatass. I told you I couldn't remember all of that shit."

"Well, Jesus, Kyle. I thought you were supposed to be smart." Cartman grinned evilly at him as he took another sip of his coffee, making his grin twist into a look of disgust. "This shit sucks."

"Sorry." Kyle replied, smiling happily at him.

"Fuck you, shit head." Cartman retorted.

"Shit head? What are you, eleven?" Kyle laughed at the lame insult, and Cartman's face grew slightly red.

"Just shut the fuck up, Jew." He demanded before standing up to throw his coffee away.

"Hey, fucktard! I spent, like four bucks on that!" Kyle yelled after him, glaring at his back. "God dammit." He murmured to himself before glancing up at Stan and Kenny, who seemed to be carrying on a silent conversation.

"What are you guys doing?" Kyle asked confusedly. The two nearly jumped out of their seats.

"Just drinking our coffee." Kenny responded, taking a quick sip for proof.

"You guys are up to something, aren't you?" Kyle accused, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at them.

"Of course not!" Stan denied, putting up his hands as a barrier between himself and Kyle. His eyes flashed nervously over Kyle's head at Cartman, who was returning to the table. Kyle backed off once the brunette had sat back down, deciding to ask Stan more about it when Kenny and Cartman weren't around.

Kyle pulled out his phone to check the time. One thirty five. "Cartman, we should probably get going. Kenny, you wanna give us a ride back to Stan's so we can get his car?"

"Yeah, sure." Kenny replied, and they all made their way back out to Kenny's truck, Stan still clutching his coffee between his hands.

When they pulled up next to Cartman's car, Stan sat up suddenly. "I have to go get the money!" He exclaimed, shoving his coffee cup into Kyle's hand. It was empty, meaning that Stan was probably experiencing a major jolt of energy right about now. Which explained why he jumped from the truck before it even came to a complete stop.

Kyle and Cartman got out of the truck to stand awkwardly next to the brunette's car while they waited for Stan.

"You two have fun, okay!" Kenny waved out his window as he began to back out of the driveway. "And don't christen the new car without me!"

"Christen the car?" Kyle mumbled under his breathe as he watched the old pickup drive away, not quite understanding what Kenny meant.

"He means we shouldn't fuck on the vintage shag carpet." Cartman supplied for him, wearing a serious look.

Kyle's face immediately grew red as he tried not to picture that certain scenario. "Fucking sick, man!"

"I know, that shit has probably been in there since the Beatles started dropping acid." Cartman made a disgusted face, but stopped once he caught the look Kyle was giving him.

"What's your problem, Jew?"

"The _carpet _is the only objection you would have to doing it with _me _in that car?" Kyle sounded incredulous as Cartman scoffed, turning his head away slightly so he couldn't look at him in the face.

"That's a given you fuckin' butt pirate. I didn't think I had to mention it. Sorry that's right where _your _filthy mind went."

Kyle was about to retort when Stan came running out of the house, a wad of cash fisted up in his left hand.

"I got it! Don't worry!" He shouted, though he was only a few feet away from them.

"Dude, Stan. Calm down." Kyle demanded, placing his hands on his shoulders as he panted.

"I'm calm, Kyle!" He assured, his eyes wide as he practically jumped on the spot. "Just take the money and go, or you'll be late!"

"I'm not going to be late, you idiot." Kyle gave him a gentle shove, and Stan smiled back at him.

"Here." Stan held out the money and Kyle folded it nicely and stowed it in his wallet. He was about to walk away from Stan and get into Cartman's car when he felt himself being pulled back.

Stan shot Cartman a quick glance to make sure he was watching before wrapping both of his arms tightly around Kyle's neck in a hug. Kyle laughed, attributing his friend's unusual behavior to the caffeine as he hugged him back.

"I don't think you should drink coffee for a while, all right?" Kyle suggested as he pulled away from Stan, but the black haired boy wouldn't let him go yet. He held him at arms length with his hands gripping his hips firmly as Kyle tried to wriggle away.

"Stan, you can let go now." He stated, sounding confused as he just continued to stare at him with a huge grin on his face.

Stan threw another glance in Cartman's direction to see him starring with a morbid kind of interest at the two of them, before nuzzling his nose in Kyle's neck.

The red head blinked confusedly down at his friend as he came up to whisper in his ear.

"Bye, Kyle." He drew out the words slowly so his breathe ran hotly over his neck, making Kyle freeze as something shot down his spine, spreading a strange warmth through his body. Stan finally let him go, watching him wobble just slightly on his feet as his eyes starred off into nothing, looking slightly glassy.

He blinked a few times before focusing back on Stan. "Uh, yeah. Bye." He gave the black haired boy a short wave before turning around and getting into the car. The sound of the driver side door opening and closing registered in Kyle's mind, and he was brought back to Earth by the knowledge that he was alone with Eric Cartman. There would be no witnesses to save him if he pissed the Nazi off now.

"Are you two like, an item now?" Cartman scoffed sarcastically as he backed out of Stan's driveway. Despite his joking tone, Kyle caught something almost like anger flash through his eyes.

"Fuck- no." Kyle admitted, rubbing his forehead as he felt it begin to pound with a headache.

Cartman glanced sideways at Kyle as he drove too fast down the street. "Well you might want to let him know that. It looks like he has a different idea."

"Stan does not think that we're dating, Cartman." Kyle snapped, his instincts of defending his super best friend kicking in.

Cartman held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm just sayin' that he looked pretty…" he seemed to struggle for the right word for just a moment. "Comfortable."

"Yeah." Kyle nodded to himself. "Yeah, that was pretty fuckin' weird, okay Cartman?" He spit out in one quick breathe, barely believing that he was agreeing with the guy.

"Well, you can't blame him." The brunette stated, but continued after seeing the confused look on Kyle's face. "I mean, you guys act so fuckin' gay all the time, it's no wonder he thinks you're… lovers." He almost choked on the last word as it came out.

"We do not act gay, Cartman." Kyle informed him as he pulled up his legs so he was sitting crossed legged on his seat. "We're just really close, you know?"

"No, I don't know." He responded, almost too quietly for Kyle to hear.

"What I mean is," Kyle started, unwilling to begin fighting with Cartman when they were actually having a somewhat decent conversation for the first time _ever._ "We're just really comfortable around each other. And Stan was all jacked up on caffeine. So it was probably nothing."

"Sure, just ignore the truth." Cartman stated dramatically.

Kyle smiled once he realized he was only joking and Cartman smirked back at him, taking his eyes off the road for a second.

"Why can't we be like this more often?" Kyle wondered out loud and Cartman chuckled in amusement at him.

"Because that would be fucking boring, you idiot." He responded, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It would also be a nice break." Kyle pointed out.

"Don't deny it, Kahl." The red head cringed at his odd, pet name. "The only reason you just disagreed with me is because you're already growing tired of getting along with me."

"That's not true." Kyle crossed his arms defiantly and sunk down in his seat.

"Then why are you still disagreeing with me? If you really didn't want to fight, you'd agree just to shut me up." Cartman observed, smirking widely at the dangerous glare Kyle was shooting at him.

"Or I'd keep arguing because I know I'm right." Kyle spat through clenched teeth, but this only made Cartman's smirk widen.

"Why do you want to fight with me so bad?" He questioned, taking his eyes completely off the road to stare at Kyle.

"God dammit, Cartman! Because you do shit that just drives me crazy, that's why. It's not because I _want _to fight with you, it's because I _have _to!" Kyle was breathing heavily through his nose with his fists clenched tightly in his lap. "Now get your eyes back on the goddamn road. I'm not getting into a crash today."

Cartman continued to stare at the side of Kyle's face as he looked defiantly out the window. Slowly, he returned his eyes back to the road, but an awful tension was boxed into the car now with no way to escape.

The awkward silence stretched on for an almost unbelievable amount of time, until Cartman hesitantly broke it.

"You know we were totally set up into this, right?" He questioned, trying to sound as casual as possible under the circumstances.

"What do you mean?" Kyle would have snapped angrily at him, but he was taken back by the strange comment.

"I mean, Stan and Kenny were planning for the two of us to go to Denver alone." He explained, throwing on his blinker as he changed lanes.

"That's ridiculous." Kyle stated, but he didn't sound completely convinced of his own accusation. "Why would they do that?"

Cartman shrugged. "Why do those two faggots do half the things they do?"

Kyle huffed in annoyance and rested his head against the car window. "Maybe they thought it would make us get along so they wouldn't have to listen to us fight all the way to California."

Cartman scoffed, smirking. "Like hell that'll work."

Kyle narrowed his eyes at the brunette. "It _could _work, if you'd stop being such an asshole."

"God dammit, Kyle." Cartman's eye brows drew together in annoyance as he kept his head starring straight out the windshield. "You're just as responsible for our fights as I am."

Kyle froze as this particular statement sunk in. That wasn't true, was it? Cartman was always the one who started shit with him, calling him a Jew and making fun of his mom- but Kyle could never just let it go. He had to fight back, always.

"You see?" Cartman chuckled in amusement at the look on Kyle's face. "You love to fight with me, no matter how much you want to deny it."

Kyle growled in reply and took to glaring resolutely out his window at the passing traffic.

"Now you're going to ignore me, Kahl?" Cartman drawled with a discernable laughter in his voice. "That's just rude."

Kyle fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, realizing for the first time how hard it was for him to just ignore Cartman's stupid comments.

"Fuckin' kike- I didn't know you'd give up _that_ easily." Cartman went on, trying his hardest not to laugh out loud when Kyle's hands balled up into fists with the effort of not yelling at him.

"Hey, daywalker!" Cartman called, poking the side of Kyle's face with a thick finger. "I'm talking to you!"

Kyle moved with an unexpected agility, wiping his face around to clamp his teeth down on Cartman's finger.

"Ahhhh! The fuck, Kyle, let go of my fucking finger you cock sucker!" Cartman yelled in anger as he tried to yank his finger away. Kyle's teeth just tightened even harder on it though, causing the brunette to hiss with pain.

"_God dammit, let go!_" Cartman demanded fiercely, letting go of the wheel just long enough to punch Kyle hard in his left eye.

"Fuck!" Kyle exclaimed, letting go of Cartman's finger as he cried out in pain.

"Fuckin' creepy ass vampire." Cartman accused as he cradled his finger and glared maliciously at Kyle, who was pressing both of his hands against his eye.

They both glared at each other for a moment, until the stinging went down in both of their wounds, and their expressions softened slightly. It took Kyle a few seconds to realize that they were just _starring _at each other, and his face started to grow red before he quickly looked away.

"Where am I supposed to go, Jew?" Cartman questioned like nothing had happened.

Kyle looked around, realizing that they were already in Denver. "Take a left on 130th." He supplied, sighing gratefully at the suddenly lighter atmosphere in the car as he leaned back in his seat. It seemed like it was always that way with Cartman. They would build up an odd sort of tension, release it in some way, and then an overwhelming calm would take over- until they started all over again.

The rest of the car ride was silent except for the occasional beep of the blinker and the sound of cars honking at each other. Kyle's uncle lived in an apartment right in the center of the city, but he had been there enough with his family to remember the way. As they pulled into the parking lot of the small complex, Kyle checked the time. Two fifty- perfect.

Kyle paused as he reached for his door handle. "Uh," he began, feeling awkward. "Do you want to come up with me?"

Cartman grunted in reply, which Kyle took for a yes since he opened his door and stepped out of the car. They took a moment to stretch out their cramped muscles before heading to the entrance of the apartments.

Kyle was about the ring the number for his uncle's room when Cartman stopped him with a huge grin on his face.

"Wait, let me guess." He shoved Kyle out of the way and stood in front of the name board, scanning through the different residents until his eyes came to a rest at one specific name. He pressed the buzzer confidently and Kyle stepped forward, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Hello?" Came the voice from the intercom.

"Hello, it's your nephew Kyle here to pick up the car." Cartman replied in his sickeningly sweet voice.

"Oh, right, okay." He sounded anxious, and a few seconds after his voice disconnected, the door buzzed. Cartman stepped forward and pulled it open, waving Kyle through with a small bow.

"How the hell did you do that?" Kyle questioned as they began walking down a narrow hallway.

Cartman rolled his eyes in amusement. "Seriously, Kahl- you're family's Jewish. It's not so hard to pick out a Jewish last name. Especially one like Eibenschutz."

Kyle frowned at the carpeted floor as they continued along. His uncle lived on the third floor, so they took the small flight of steps near the back corner of the building. Kyle grew quickly irritated by Cartman trying to force his way around him, the narrowness of the stairs making it nearly impossible without flattening Kyle's back against the railing.

"Will you cut it out, Cartman?" Kyle demanded through clenched teeth as he threw his elbow back, hoping to smash it into his face, but he ducked at just the right moment.

"Why can't you just move over, Kahl?" Cartman whined, panting slightly with the effort of shoving Kyle to the side and climbing up the stairs. "You're going too slow for me."

"Shut up, fatass- you can barely keep up with me!" Kyle accused, glaring over his shoulder as Cartman wrapped his hands around his waist.

"Cartman," Kyle growled threateningly. "Let me go."

"Shut up, Jew." Cartman rolled his eyes as he turned Kyle's entire body to the side and pressed him up against the wall by his waist. He slid his body slowly around him, smirking evilly at his uncomfortable expression.

"God dammit, Cartman." Kyle nearly whispered as the brunette started up the stairs again, only this time effectively cutting him off from getting around him. Cartman took up an excruciatingly slow pace, making Kyle whine and sigh in annoyance from behind him. He placed his hands on Cartman's back, trying to push him along faster, but he was much stronger then Kyle had anticipated, making him impossible to move.

When they finally reached the top of the stairs, Kyle let out a grateful breathe as he stepped around Cartman to lead the way. His uncle's apartment was only a few doors down the hall- Kyle stopped and knocked loudly when they reached it. It only took a few seconds before the door swung open.

"Kyle! Hi!" A short, red headed man with black rimmed glasses greeted as he stepped into the hallway.

"Hi Uncle David." Kyle smiled politely and gestured at Cartman who was standing slightly off to the right behind him. "This is Cartman, he drove me up here."

"Hello, Cartman." David gave him a small nod. "We have to go down to the parking lot across the street," he explained to Kyle as they made their way to the elevators. "I keep it there so Sandra won't find it."

As they rode the elevator down, David started up a conversation with Kyle about where he was planning to go for college while Cartman stood off to the side with a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" Kyle whispered as they stepped out of the elevator and David took the lead through the constricted hallway.

Cartman seemed to come out of a small trance as he looked down at Kyle. "Nothing, Jew." He replied, looking almost offended that he would ask.

"Fine, whatever." Kyle crossed his arms and took off briskly after his uncle, ignoring Cartman the rest of the walk there.

When they reached the car, Kyle handed the four hundred from Kenny, Stan, and Cartman over and then fished through his wallet for two fifties.

"This is enough, right?" Kyle questioned as he leaned against the side of the car. It didn't look like it was in too bad of shape, considering how old it was.

"Yes, yes, don't worry about it." He demanded in a nasally voice. "I'm just glad to be getting rid of it."

"All right, thanks man." Kyle patted his Uncle on the back. "Just remember not to mention any of this to my parents, okay?"

"You're secret's safe with me as long as mine is with you." He promised, holding his hands out in front of him.

"I'll see you around, David." Kyle smiled thankfully at him as he began walking away.

"Bye, Kyle!" He called over his shoulder before he jogged back across the busy street.

"Well," Cartman started, leaning on the car beside Kyle. "He's not as much of a stereotypical Jew as I'd anticipated."

Kyle's eye brows rose in surprise at the almost compliment. "How do you mean?"

"He didn't try to squeeze more money than this car was worth out of you." Cartman stated simply as his shrugged.

Kyle smiled slightly up at him. "Yeah, he's not a bad guy. A little skittish sometimes, but…" Kyle's voice trailed away as he watched his uncle reenter his building.

They were both silent as they leaned against the old, red van, listening to the sounds of innumerable cars and people that was the city.

"So," Kyle shifted, not really willing to break their strange moment of peace, but he knew that if he didn't get home on time his mom would be pissed. "I guess we should get going?"

Cartman nodded silently, pushing away from the van and walking back to his own car.

"I'll see you back in town?" Kyle didn't know why he felt so compelled to keep talking, but the words came out anyways.

Cartman looked over his shoulder. "Yeah, I guess so."

Kyle didn't move until Cartman had disappeared completely from his sight. He sighed as he pulled the keys his uncle had given him out of his pocket and jumped into the driver's seat. He slipped the keys into the ignition and let his head fall onto the steering wheel. His thoughts jumbled for a moment until settling on one final conclusion of the day's events.

It had by far been the most… interesting day he had spent with Cartman _ever_.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope the end didn't sound too rushed :/ I was just so excited to get it done! Hah, I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer.

Anyways, don't forget to review, I love to hear your comments/suggestions and whatnot- and thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far, you guys are so nice it just makes me want to write until I get carpel tunnel^^

THANKS!


	4. Before You Go part 1

**A/N: **Ahhhhhhhhh! It took me so long to finish this freakin' chapter! Haha, I am so sorry, but it turned out much, much longer than I had anticipated and it took me forever to go through and edit it and stuff. Hell, it go so long that I had to cut it into two chapters. So you're lucky that I decided I couldn't let this chapter drag on over 26 pages, or I'd still be working my butt off trying to finish it! I seriously worked so hard on this, though, so I hope you guys like it!

Oh, and I thought I'd apologize in advance for my awful 'drunk' dialogue later in the chapter. I'm pretty sure I totally failed at that whole bit...

* * *

Sharon Marsh was not a complicated person. She liked to keep things simple- under the realm of her own understanding. This is what made her such a good decision maker and judgment of character. This certain attribute, however, did not apply to people who were constantly coming up with new, dangerous schemes and continually looking for ways to make their lives more complicated. People like her husband, and son. So when Sharon found the latter sitting cross legged in the middle of his room with all of his things dumped out around him, she almost didn't ask. She had come to realize, around Stan's seventh birthday, that she would never be able to fully understand her boys. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but try.

"Stan, honey…" Sharon paused outside of her son's bedroom door, a concerned look on her face as she watched him sort through some t-shirts. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh," Stan glanced up at her with a toothy smile on his face. "Just thought I'd rearrange my room a bit, mom." He responded, not even blinking as he lied right to her face.

It had been three days since Kyle and Cartman went up to Denver to get the car, leaving the four of them with only two more days to pack all of their things. Stan had just started his own packing that day and, though he felt a twinge of guilt at lying so blatantly to his mom, it was making him more excited by the second.

"Okay, well just…" her voice trailed off as her eyes swept around the massive disarray. "Make sure you get everything cleaned up when you're done."

"Sure thing, mom." Stan replied absentmindedly as he began sifting through his things again.

Sharon was about to continue walking down the hall when she remembered why she had gone to her son's room in the first place. "Oh- Kenny just got here. I told him you'd come down."

"Kay." Stan set down the pile of pictures he'd just found and carefully stood up, making sure to tip toe cautiously through his room so he didn't step on anything.

Kenny was waiting for his friend at the bottom of the stairs with an almost comically large grin on his face, which grew bigger as Stan approached him.

"Hey, man!" He nearly yelled, running up to meet him halfway down the steps. "I have good news!"

"What, what is it?" Stan questioned, his brows furrowing in confusion at the boy's urgency.

"Well," Kenny started as they made their way into the living room and took a seat on the couch together. "I was talking to Token yesterday about how the four of us are," he paused for a moment to make sure no one was around to hear. "Ya know, leaving."

"Okay…" Stan continued to stare confusedly at the blond haired boy, not quite sure where he was trying to go with this.

"Dude, he wants to throw us a going away party! At his huge ass house, with just about everyone we've known since fuckin' kindergarten!" Kenny threw up his hands in excitement, his voice rising dramatically.

"Oh, Jesus." Stan shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"What's the matter?" Kenny questioned, giving his friend an incredulous look. "Our very rich friend is throwing us a going away party- you should be excited!"

"You know I hate those stupid parties, Kenny!" Stan snapped, narrowing his eyes at him. "And what if our parents found out? We'd be totally busted- not only would we be grounded for the rest of the summer, but we'd have to say good bye to any road trips if they found out _why _everyone was at the party."

"Grounded?" Kenny exclaimed, looking amused. "We're fuckin' eighteen, Stan! Our parents can't _ground _us."

Stan shook his head and gave Kenny an incredulous look. "You obviously don't know my or Kyle's parents that well, dude. To them, as long as we're living under their roof, we're expected to live by their rules. And our parents fucking _hate_ those stupid ass parties. All anyone does is get drunk there, anyways!"

"That's the _point, _fucktard!" Kenny grabbed Stan roughly by his shoulders and tried to shake some sense into him. "Don't you understand? This is going to be the last high school party you'll ever be able to go to! Do you really want to look back at this moment when you're thirty and remember that you totally pussied out?"

Stan heaved a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Probably," he answered softly, but lifted his head slightly to smile at his friend. "But whatever, I guess I don't really have a choice anyway, do I?"

"Fuck no, you don't." Kenny stated with a serious look on his face before it broke into an eager smile.

"But if anything gets fucked up because of this, you're so taking all the blame." Stan warned, sounding uncharacteristically stern.

"Okay, okay!" Kenny consented, putting his hands up in submission.

"Have you talked to Kyle and Cartman about it?" Stan asked as he leaned back against the couch.

"Yeah." Kenny nodded. "They were definitely more excited than you."

"Kyle and Cartman have always liked those stupid parties more than me." Stan accused as he crossed his arms defensively over his chest.

"Yeah, cause they're _normal _teenagers." Kenny scoffed sarcastically, punching his friend in the arm.

"Whatever. When is it?" Stan questioned, attempting to change the subject as he rubbed his arm absentmindedly. Kenny had the tendency to put a little too much force behind his friendly punches.

The blond paused in apprehension, shooting his friend a nervous glance. "Tonight- at ten." He spat out quickly as Stan groaned.

"Dammit, Kenny! What am I supposed to tell my parents?" He hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Kenny waved a dismissive hand, trying his best to calm his friend. "Just tell them you're staying over at Kyle's, or something. They're not going to check."

"Fine, fine." Stan rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"Jeez, Stan," Kenny started as he stood up. "You'd think I was making you do something awful. It's a party, dude- parties are fun! Especially when they're _thrown for you_." He gave his friend an encouraging smile before turning and leaving the house.

Stan remained seated on the couch for several moments before heading back up to his room. He glanced at the mess all over his floor, and pretty much every surface, for a few seconds before carefully making his way to the bed and lying down. He had planned on working on packing all day long, but now that he'd been interrupted he didn't quite know where to start again. Just as he was thinking about giving Kyle a call to see if he wanted to do something, his phone rang.

Stan smiled to himself as he checked the caller ID.

"Hey, Kyle." He answered, "I was just going to call you."

Kyle chuckled on the other line. "Looks like I beat you to it."

"Guess so." Stan laughed. "So what's up?"

"Well, I _was _trying to pack my shit, but I kept getting distracted by all my old stuff. You wouldn't believe the crap I've found in here." Kyle stated, his voice sounding amused.

"I know what you mean, dude." Stan assured as he sat up on his bed, looking down at all his things. "I found a whole box full of my old Terrance and Phillip shit. It took me an hour to go through it all, but I had to do it."

"I found a freakin' treasure chest in my closet full of old pictures. We must have jacked my mom's camera one time, or something." Kyle commented as he dug a hand into the chest and pulled a handful of photos out.

Stan burst into laughter at this, remembering exactly what Kyle was talking about. "Dude, don't you remember that?"

Kyle was quiet for a moment as he thought, but nothing came to mind. "Uh, no not really."

"_Cartman _stole his mom's camera." Stan began, trying to jog his friend's memory. "Don't you remember complaining that day about how you didn't have enough pictures of all of us?" Stan prompted, but Kyle remained silent. "When you went through that weird phase in like seventh grade where you wanted to document every little thing we did? It was right after that kid in the eighth grade died in a car crash with his mom."

Kyle gasped loudly as it all came back to him. "Oh, yeah! Wasn't his name Jeffrey?"

"Jeffrey Rains." Stan confirmed.

"Right." Kyle nodded to himself, until something else Stan said caught his attention. "But… I don't remember Cartman saying he took that camera from his mom?" He questioned, sounding confused as he picked up one of the pictures he'd taken out and looked closely at it. Kenny must have taken it, because the camera was turned at a slight angle and Kyle, Cartman and Stan could be seen a good distance away, sitting on the ground in a small circle.

Stan shrugged as he pulled his legs up under his chin. "You must have been gone by the time his mom found us."

Kyle nodded to himself as he continued to sift through the innumerable photographs, all rather poorly taken. He remembered that his mom had called him and yelled at him to get home and watch his brother that day, so he'd left the other boys alone. Seventh grade was around the time that Cartman had begun his slow, slow progression to a state of almost civility with him, doing small things that made Kyle question what he was up to. That day had been one of those instances, along with the day, about a month after, that he had found that chest sitting on his front porch- completely unlabeled or marked. He had known that it was Cartman but, determined to not acknowledge any kind act extended by him; he had shoved it in the back of his closet and forgotten completely about it.

"You still there, Kyle?" Stan questioned, sounding slightly concerned.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was talking to my mom." Kyle responded quickly as he frowned down at the pictures clutched in his hand.

"Well, do you want to do something until we have to go to that lame-ass Token's party?" Stan suggested, sounding slightly irritated as he mentioned the party.

"Don't you mean your lame-ass party?" Kyle corrected, smiling to himself as he mused over the only high school stereotype his friend refused to conform to.

"Whatever." Kyle could practically see the raven haired boy rolling his eyes, making him smirk as he threw the photographs back in their chest and stood up.

"You can come over until the party, if you want." He offered as he sat down at his desk. "My mom is making dinner, and I set up the Xbox down in the basement."

"Sure dude, I'll be over in a few." Stan jumped up from his bed and snapped his phone shut, ending their conversation abruptly- something he was quite notorious for.

"Mom?" Stan called as he stepped out of his room and into the hallway.

"What?" Her voice came from downstairs, and he found her sitting on the couch, completely absorbed in some documentary on the civil war. Stan would never understand what was so intriguing about history, but his mom thrived on that kind of shit.

"I'm going out for a bit." He stated as he made his way towards the front door.

"Where to?" She inquired shortly, glancing at him briefly.

"Kyle's." Stan supplied, and then remembered that he should probably make up his alibi for being gone that night. "And I probably won't be back until tomorrow morning- he asked me to stay the night."

"All right," Sharon waved a dismissive hand, focusing her attention back on the television. "Have fun." Stan nodded as he stepped out the door and onto the front porch.

Stan's mom might have been a naturally suspicious person, but she rarely questioned him when he involved Kyle in his plans. For some reason, every adult in South Park was under the impression that he was the epitome of all that is good and pure. And that's barely an exaggeration. Kyle was just insanely good at kissing people's asses, and it helped that he was nothing short of a genius. So, he kept up his good grades, acted all sweet and innocent around parents, and was trusted by them all. It really came in handy sometimes, like when they wanted to skip school, he could sweet talk the attendance secretary into excusing them all from classes. The only bad thing was that, since it seemed he could never get caught, he fell victim to that feeling of invincibility. He drank and smoked and made it a point to do just about everything that most definitely was not good for you. Sometimes, it was almost like he was waiting for someone to stop him. For someone to tell him he wasn't perfect, and what he was doing was wrong.

Stan looked up from the sidewalk he had been starring at, surprised to find himself in front of Kyle's house. He had spaced out the entire walk there, but he was so used to going to Kyle's it was like his mind was hard wired with the directions.

He opened the front door slowly and glanced around the living room, but nobody was there. Various mutterings and clanging noises could be heard coming from the kitchen, which he assumed was Kyle's mom. He walked across the living room and started down the stairs to the basement, where he could already hear the sound of loud explosions coming from Kyle's Xbox.

"Hey, man!" Kyle nearly yelled to be heard over the game as he looked behind him to find Stan standing near the bottom of the stairs.

"What are we playing?" Stan shouted as he jumped over the back of Kyle's old couch to land right next to him.

"I thought I'd go old school tonight!" The red head replied, grinning slightly at he motioned towards the television with his controller.

"The first Halo?" Stan raised a questioning eye brow at his friend, who simply shrugged back.

"It just felt right, you know."

Stan shook his head slightly but, as they got into the game, he realized that Kyle was completely right. That old game that they hadn't played for years was perfect. It completely captured the mood of nostalgia that they both had entered since they'd started planning out their last summer together.

After about an hour of playing, Kyle's mom called down the stairs to announce that dinner was ready. The boys ate quickly before returning to their game, which they had almost managed to beat for the one hundred and first time, when Kyle interrupted them.

"Shit, man! It's nine fifty," he declared as he glanced at the clock above the TV. We've got to go." He threw his remote down at shut off the console with no hesitation.

"Ahh, Kyle!" Stan whined as he let his remote drop to the floor. "We didn't even get to save it."

"It's not like we're ever going to play it again." Kyle rationed, rolling his eyes as Stan pouted.

"Yeah, but still…" Stan's voice trailed off as Kyle grabbed his arm and drug him up the stairs.

"You're going to have fun tonight, Stan, so stop trying to weasel your way out of it."

"Hey, mom." The red head smiled cheerfully at his mother as they emerged from the basement.

"What is it, bubbe? I'm very busy." Sheila announced as she finished folding a blanket and set it on the couch.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm staying over at Stan's tonight." Kyle replied meekly, refusing to look at his mother in the face.

"I guess that would be all right tonight, bubbe. As long as you're home by nine tomorrow morning." His mom concluded.

"Yeah, no problem." Kyle nodded in agreement as him and Stan made their way to the front door, eager to leave.

"Oh, and tell your mother I say hello, Stan." Sheila added as she picked up a picture frame off the coffee table to dust it. "We really don't see each other as much as we ought to."

"I'll be sure to do that." Stan assured, giving the large woman a slight smile before following Kyle out the door.

Stan stopped once they were both outside. "How are we supposed to get to the party, dude?" He questioned, suddenly realizing that neither of them had a ride. Since Kyle's mom thought they were just going over to Stan's, it would be pointless to ask for him to use the car.

Kyle pulled out his phone. "I'll call Kenny and see if he's left yet."

They were silent for a few seconds as they walked slightly down the street from Kyle's house, so his mom wouldn't wonder why they were loitering in the front lawn.

"Hey Kenny," Kyle finally spoke, holding the phone away from his ear as loud music pulsed through it. "I'm guessing you're already at the party?"

"Yeah, man!" Kenny shouted through the speakers. "You had better hurry up, this party is awesome!"

"All right, see you in a bit Kenny." Kyle responded, sounding slightly off put that they were missing out.

"Well, what do we do now?" Kyle inquired as he shut his phone and looked up at Stan.

The black haired boy paused for a moment before giving Kyle a sheepish look. "We could call Cartman?"

Kyle narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "No way, dude. I'd rather walk."

"Come on, dude, everyone else is probably there already. You know Cartman never shows up until at least thirty minutes after anything starts." Stan reasoned.

"I'm not calling that fat ass and begging for a ride." Kyle replied simply, turning his nose up at his friend.

"You don't have to beg, Kyle." Stan rolled his eyes, but stopped once he caught the look his friend was giving him.

"_Yes_, I would, Stan."

"Fine then." The black haired boy shrugged indifferently and starting walking in the direction of his house. "You know I don't care if we go."

Stan made it about half a block before Kyle come jogging up behind him.

"Wait, wait!" Kyle placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Stan turned around with an expectant look on his face, and the red head sighed as he pulled his phone back out of his pocket. Stan waited silently as Kyle searched through his contacts. The phone rang only twice before Cartman picked up, sounding vaguely irritated.

"What do you want, Jew?"

Kyle closed his eyes, willing to have the patience not to blow up. "Hey, dude. Stan and I don't have a ride up to Token's, have you left yet?"

"You expect me to drive you and your faggy little boyfriend all the way up to Token's? No fucking way, man." Cartman denied, shaking his head incredulously.

"Come on Cartman- please?" Kyle nearly whined in his desperation, making Cartman sigh.

"What do I get in return?"

Kyle thought for a moment, pressing his phone almost painfully against his ear. "I'll pay for your gas."

Cartman frowned down at his phone for a moment. "All right, whatever. Where are you guys?"

Kyle's eyes lit up as he spun around to smile at Stan. "By my house."

"Be there in five." Cartman replied, snapping his phone shut quickly.

"You have to pay for his gas?" Stan questioned as Kyle pocketed his phone.

The red head nodded, but didn't look entirely perturbed by it. "Yeah, but it's no big deal. At least we have a ride!"

"Yeah, it's definitely no big deal." Stan commented, looking concerned.

Kyle gave his friend a confused look, making him elaborate.

"Well, don't you think Cartman's letting you off a little… light?" Stan questioned imploringly. "I mean, it's Cartman. If he has a chance to get something out of you, he usually uses it to his advantage in a better way than squeezing a few bucks out of you."

Kyle thought for a moment, frowning down at the ground. It _was_ odd for Cartman to do something for him with so little payment in return. Actually, Kyle was pretty sure this was the first time he'd ever done anything _willingly_ for him. Even when they'd driven up to Denver, it was only because he had to.

Kyle looked back up at Stan and was about ready to reply when the headlights of Cartman's car swept over them both, silencing him. The beat up Honda pulled beside the curb next to them, the passenger side window rolled down.

"Well? Come on, let's go!" He demanded before cranking it back up and turning his music up to an ear splitting level.

Stan and Kyle glanced at each other before they both went to reach for the back door at the same time. Stan laughed slightly and shoved Kyle away so he could jump in before him. Kyle sighed and got into the front seat.

The red head growled angrily at the volume of the radio as he closed his door, reaching forward to turn it down. Cartman's hand immediately reached out and slapped his wrist, giving him a warning glare. Kyle huffed and sat back in his seat, trying his best to block out the heavy metal blaring in his ears.

It was nearly a twenty minute drive to Token's, and Cartman didn't turn his music down the entire way there. By the time Kyle and Stan stepped out of his car, their ears were ringing.

"Dammit, Cartman." Kyle hissed as he watched the larger boy make his way into the house, leaving him and Stan standing next to his car.

"Just forget about him for the rest of the night." Stan suggested, placing his hand on Kyle's back to steer him towards the entrance.

"Already done." Kyle reassured his friend.

They could hear the harsh bass on Token's Bose stereo system from outside, but when they opened the door their ear drums were nearly blown out by the sheer intensity of it. Well, that and the mixture of loud shrieks and yells as soon as everyone saw who was at the door.

"There you guys are!" Came Token's voice as he pulled them both inside, the large crowd around the door immediately swallowing them whole.

They were shoved along through the crowd, being pushed toward the middle. When they broke through to the center of the throng, they noticed there was a small clearing with only Kenny and Cartman.

"What the hell is going on?" Stan yelled, his face pink and his hair messed up from being jostled through the crowd.

Kenny laughed at him and shook his head. "We're the center of attention tonight, dude!"

"Great." Stan breathed quietly, only loud enough for Kyle to hear him. The red head placed a sympathetic hand on his back and smiled reassuringly at him. Nobody seemed to notice Cartman shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

"Can we at least get some alcohol?" Cartman questioned loudly. "Or are we fucking stuck here all night?"

"If you want alcohol, my dear friend," Kenny patted Cartman on the shoulder and smirked up at him. "Then I will get you alcohol."

Cartman starred at him in confusion as he turned around and tapped some random blond girl on the shoulder. She beamed at him as she turned around and he stepped close to her, placing a hand on her waist as he whispered in her ear. She nodded excitedly as he stepped away and immediately disappeared into the mass of people.

"Who the hell was that?" Kyle questioned as Kenny smiled proudly at them all.

"Who cares?" He shrugged.

A few minutes went by, and their small clearing seemed to be shrinking as people danced and screamed and drank and kissed, until they were elbowing people back, trying to keep as much space as possible.

"I don't know how much longer I can stand this." Kyle spoke to Stan, his claustrophobia getting the best of him.

"Don't worry," Stan patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "I'll get us out of here."

Stan was about to say something to Kenny again when the blond reappeared, carrying enough alcohol to get every person in the house very intoxicated.

Kyle's eyes widened in shock as Kenny began passing stuff around to the three of them.

"That's all just for us?" He questioned in wonder as he took the bottle of raspberry vodka offered to him.

Kenny nodded, smiling jubilantly at them. "Drink up, my friends!"

Kyle laughed loudly as he unscrewed the top and held his drink up. Everyone else followed suit, looking slightly amused as they clanked their various drinks together and commenced to chug as much as they could.

"Fuck!" Stan yelled, his face puckering with disgust as he coughed. Kyle smirked at the bottle of Captain Morgan's clutched in his right hand, shaking his head at his friend's inability to hold his alcohol.

"Kenny, grab all that shit," Kyle motioned to the pile of various alcoholic drinks at his feet. "And let's get out of here!"

The blond nodded and gathered up as much as he could, shoving a few bottles into Cartman's arms, as they began to push their way through the crowd, which was not an easy venture. Kyle was elbowed in the face several times, Stan had his feet stepped on by a rather large guy, Kenny nearly dropped all of the drinks on the floor, and Cartman narrowly dodged getting slugged in the eye. People slowly thinned out, though, as they made their way through, until they came out near the sliding glass doors that lead to the back porch. Stan stepped forward to open the door, and the rest followed him through.

They each breathed a silent sigh of relief as the cool night air hit them- a great contrast to the stale air indoors.

"Ahhh!" Kenny sank into a reclining lawn chair, setting the alcohol in the wet grass beside him. "It's fucking crazy in there, guys."

"I know." Kyle replied as he took the seat next to Kenny. Cartman took the chair across from them both as Stan grabbed some logs from a pile nearby and set them in the fire pit.

"Does anyone have a lighter?" The black haired boy questioned as he began shoving newspaper between some of the logs.

Cartman scoffed. "What a fuckin' boy scout." He commented, but Stan simply ignored him.

"I got one, man." Kenny held out a plain black lighter and Stan took it, smiling thankfully at him.

"I can't believe we're leaving in two fucking days." Kyle commented after a brief silence, taking a long drink of his vodka. It was a tribute to his drinking abilities that he didn't even flinch at the harsh taste.

Stan nodded as the flame from Kenny's lighter caught the newspaper on fire. "I know." He agreed as he stood up and turned his bottle of Captain Morgan's over the fire.

Kyle gasped and scramble out of his chair, dragging Stan back as the fire went crazy, immediately catching the logs and paper on fire.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Kyle demanded, his eyes wide as Stan laughed hysterically and threw back a chug of his rum.

The red head's frantic eyes darted to Kenny, who was holding back his own laughter with tears in his eyes.

"I think you can let him go now, mother hen." The blond suggested, motioning towards Kyle's arms which were secured tightly around Stan's chest. Kyle blushed and quickly stepped back.

"Sorry, man." He apologized, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

To Kyle's incredulity, Stan smirked and stepped closer to Kyle. "It's okay," he breathed, his face inches from Kyle's as he let his hand fall onto his waist. "I didn't mind."

Kyle blinked several times before laughing nervously and placing his hands on Stan's chest to shove him away. "Nice try Stan, but you haven't had _that _much to drink yet." He joked, trying to lighten up the situation.

Stan stepped back dejectedly and turned his eyes towards the ground. Kyle backed away from him slowly and went to sit back down next to Kenny, who was giving him a funny look. Kyle shrugged dismissively and downed a good portion of his bottle, wanting to forget that that entire scenario even happened. The blond followed his lead and chugged the last of his Smirnoff, sighing satisfactorily and wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his orange hoodie.

"Shit." Kenny chuckled amusedly as he gripped the arm of his chair. "Too much too fast."

Kyle laughed and rested his head against the back of his chair, feeling the effects of the alcohol himself as he took another long drink.

"Where the fuck did Token get all of this alcohol?" Kyle inquired, tipping his head to the side to look over at Kenny.

"Fuck if I know." The blond shrugged as he reached over the arm of his chair for a bottle of beer.

"Seriously," Stan spoke up from his spot to Kyle's left as he forced down another gulp of his rum. "I know Token has a lot of money, but this is ridiculous."

Kenny burped loudly and threw his empty bottle to the ground, where it shattered loudly. "Agreed."

"Jesus shit, dude." Stan's eyes widened in disbelief at the smashed glass. "Did you really just drink all of that?"

Kenny laughed in an almost pitying way as he nodded. "Sure did."

Stan held up his own bottle forlornly and frowned at it. "Well fuck."

"You'd better speed up," Kenny commented, waving the bottle of gin he'd just opened at him. "Or you'll be forced to become the designated driver."

"But…" Stan started, pouting. "It tastes so bad."

Cartman scoffed loudly, making Stan glance at him through the fire. "Fuckin' pussy."

"Fuck off, Cartman." Kyle demanded, glaring threateningly at him. "Here, Stan, try some of this." He offered the black haired boy a fruitier drink from Kenny's pile.

"Thanks, dude." Stan smiled thankfully at him as he opened it and took a hesitant sip. His eyes widened in surprise as he realized it didn't even taste like alcohol.

"That's really good!" He declared as he quickly downed the rest of his bottle. Kyle laughed and shoved a few more at him.

"If that's what it takes, dude." Kyle shook his head in amusement as Stan popped open another and chugged it down.

"This is so much better." Stan commented, licking his lips. "Why didn't you guys give me this stuff a long time ago? I might have actually enjoyed these parties."

"Because when people buy drinks, they don't think they're going to have to set aside a special fund for expensive girly shit 'cause their friend can't handle hard liquor." Kenny explained, smirking at the glare Stan shot him.

The four of them fell into silence for a while, each chugging down as much alcohol as they could and losing track of time as the party seemed to grow bigger and bigger inside the house. None of them suggested that they go inside- they weren't too big on being around a whole mass of drunk people. They knew themselves well enough to know what they were like when they got drunk, but you can never tell what brilliant ideas a group of three hundred intoxicated people could come up with.

"What the fuck are we going to do?" Stan spoke up after a good thirty minutes of silence.

"What… do you mean?" Kyle responded, his speech slow with the effects of alcohol as his tipped his head to the side to stare at his friend's profile.

"I mean I'm bored." Stan stated, finishing his eighth drink.

"Dude, slow down on that shit." Kyle warned as he caught the amount of empty bottles littering the ground around Stan.

"Calm down, Kyle." Stan rolled his eyes and popped open another bottle.

The red head frowned somberly at him. "I'm serious, Stan."

"Whatever." Stan ignored his friend and stoop up too fast, nearly falling back into his chair. "I'm going back inside."

Kyle almost got up to follow him, but he reasoned with himself that Stan could make his own decisions. If he wanted to get fucked up tonight and wake up with a massive hangover and some random chick, then it was his own business.

"Why don't you just run after him like the good little bitch you are?" Cartman suddenly spoke up from the other side of the fire, his face looking ominous as it was half covered in shadows.

Kyle sighed, trying to blow off his insult. "It's not my job take care of him, Cartman. If he wants to be all pissy then he can go right ahead."

Cartman tipped his head back in a loud laugh. "You're such a dirty liar." He spat, almost angrily. "I just saw you nearly shit yourself when you thought he'd set himself on fire, and now you're saying you don't want to take care of him?"

Kyle blinked several times before setting his face into a glare. "That was different. I thought he was going to get hurt! Any friend would want to protect someone from getting hurt."

Cartman rolled his eyes as his face darkened. "You're not fooling anyone, Kyle." He nearly whispered, voice sounding venomous. "And he's certainly not." He added, pointing in the direction of the house that Stan had just disappeared into.

Kyle's eye brows drew together slowly in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"It's so obvious you two are fucking." The brunette spat as Kenny gagged on his beer.

"W- ha- what?" Kenny laughed, barely able to contain himself as he clutched his sides.

"That is not true, Cartman." Kyle stated seriously, shaking his head at the larger boy.

"You know what I'm talking about, right Kenny?" Cartman turned on the blond, who looked scared at being called upon for agreement.

"Uh… not really, man. Sorry, but I've always just seen Stan and Kyle as freakily close friends." He admitted, shrinking back in his chair at the glare Cartman was giving him.

"Seriously? Are you fucking blind?" He nearly shouted, waving around his empty bottle of Captain Morgan's.

"Maybe you're just looking for something that isn't there." Kenny suggested quietly, watching as Cartman's angry face turned to shock and then back to anger.

"That's ridiculous!" He scoffed loudly. "Why the fuck would I do that?"

"I don't know." Kenny stated simply as he took another drink of beer.

"Because you're constantly trying to ruin my life!" Kyle shouted, his eyes looking slightly unfocused as he threw his arms in the air, spilling his vodka, which he had made a pretty good dent in by now.

"That's not true and you fucking know it, you stupid kike!" Cartman shouted back, his eyes narrowing as he threw his empty bottle to the ground and picked up another.

"Than why else would you even bring up something like that?" Kyle demanded angrily as Cartman downed an entire can of beer in anger.

"Because it's true, you fuckin' faggot!" Cartman's face was growing red from a mixture of anger and alcohol as he staggered slightly to his feet, crushing the empty can in his hand.

"I am not a faggot, Cartman!" Kyle yelled, also standing up, as he staggered dangerously close to the fire.

"Why don't you prove it, Jew? You've never had a fucking girlfriend, and all you ever do is spend time with Stan! You guys do every fucking thing together, why wouldn't you be fucking?" Cartman took three giant strides towards Kyle, stopping just two feet away from him.

"Because we're friends, asshole! Sorry if that's such a foreign concept to you." Kyle flung his arms haphazardly through the air again, causing a good portion of his vodka to spill into the fire.

"Holy shit, dude!" Kenny yelled as the flames hissed and flared upward, causing Kyle and Cartman to fall on their asses.

"God dammit," Kenny muttered to himself as he ran over to them. "Are you guys okay?" He bent down so he could check them over.

"Yeah, fine." Kyle murmured, sitting up slowly as his head spun.

"What about you, fatass?" Kenny poked Cartman in the arm and he groaned.

"I'm fucking peachy, you nosy bastard." He grunted, slapping the blonde's hand away as he stood up and nearly fell back down again. "Shitfuck." He slurred as he grabbed his head.

"Whoa, careful." Kenny cautioned, stepping closer in case he fell over, but making sure not to touch him.

"They're right over there!" A voice slurred loudly from the direction of the sliding glass doors, making Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman turn around.

Stan was standing just outside the doors, with a mass of people pouring out around him as he pointed in their direction, his body wobbling unstably. The huge crowd began making their way towards them, Token in the lead, as Kyle quickly stood up from the ground.

"What's going on?" The red head demanded, still shook up from his fight with Cartman.

"We wanted to give you guys your present!" Token explained to loud cheering and screaming from the people around him.

"Our… present?" Kyle looked confused as Token nodded vigorously and laughed.

"Yeah, dude! Did you think we'd just throw you a party and not get you any presents?" He exclaimed as he staggered forward and nearly fell into Kenny. "Wendy!" The intoxicated boy called behind him, waving for her to come forward.

The four boys all gaped openly as their notoriously prudish, feminist friend stumbled through the crowd with Bebe behind her- both carrying large wooden boxes. They smiled somewhat distantly at the guys, obviously at least a little drunk, and set the crates down at their feet.

"Hope you like it!" Bebe pinched Kenny's cheek and he slid an arm around her waist so he could whisper something in her ear, making her blush.

Kyle stepped forward and bent over slowly, being careful not to fall as he lifted the lid off one of the boxes and gasped loudly.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed, covering his mouth as he straightened back up and gave everyone a shocked look. "How did you manage to get all that?"

Token shrugged and threw an arm around the red head. "We all pitched in about five bucks, 'n Clyde got his older brother to buy it."

Kenny stepped behind Kyle so he could look over his shoulder and gave a low whistle. "That's a lot of fuckin' alcohol."

Kyle nodded in agreement and began to laugh. Token gave him a strange look until he threw out his arms at the surrounding crowd. "Thanks guys!" He shouted, making them all break out into cheers and screams.

Kyle continued to laugh as he picked up a random bottle of something he'd never even heard of and began chugging it. Stan came over and threw an arm around his friend as Token began ushering everyone back inside.

"Come on, dude," Stan tugged Kyle towards the door, obviously already over their brief argument. "Let's go inside."

Kyle nodded and put his own arm around Stan to keep him from losing his balance as they made their way back into Token's house. People hadn't wasted any time going back to partying- there were already crowds in the kitchen playing beer pong, in the living room dancing like idiots, and on the stairwells making out.

Stan and Kyle were making their way through the kitchen when Wendy stopped them, her face glowing with a light pink hue.

"Hi Stan, Kyle." She greeted, smiling politely at them both.

Kyle nodded and Stan gave her a goofy grin, letting go of Kyle's shoulder. "Hey babe." He replied as he tried to lean against the kitchen counter and practically fell into the black haired girl. Kyle nearly broke out into hysterics.

Wendy fidgeted awkwardly at Stan's behavior, but managed to brush it off. "So, when are you guys leaving?" She directed her question more towards Kyle, since he seemed the most able to give a clear response.

Kyle was about to answer when Stan leaned forward, clearly pushing the boundaries of Wendy's personal space as he was mere centimeters from her face. "Two. Days." He whispered dramatically, holding up two fingers on each hand.

"Stan," Kyle started, rolling his eyes at his friend. "You're holding up four fingers, you fuck."

Stan starred down at his hands confusedly, obviously trying to count them. "Oh… you're right." He put his hands back down at his side and backed away from Wendy, who was looking disturbed at his uncharacteristically idiotic behavior.

'Is he alright?' She mouthed to Kyle as Stan's eyes began to wander unconsciously over Wendy's body.

Kyle grabbed a hold of his chin and forced it up so he was looking at her face. "He's just fine." He replied, giving the girl a reassuring smile.

"Okay…" She continued to stare at Stan with uncertainty, but decided to leave the matter alone. "Do you know where in California you guys are going?" She questioned, obviously trying to veer onto a more civilized subject.

Kyle shrugged. "Nah, not really. But it'll probably be one of the bigger cities, like San Francisco or Las Angeles."

"Yeah, that's what I fig-" She started, but stopped abruptly as Stan wound a hand around Kyle's waist and pulled him close so he could rest his cheek on his head.

Kyle blushed madly and tried desperately to shove him away, but Stan had practically passed out on him and wouldn't budge.

"Uh, would you just…" Kyle rubbed the back of his neck, trying to hide his face from Wendy as he began backing away. "Excuse me for a minute?"

Wendy nodded slowly as she watched them disappear around the corner, into the living room.

"God dammit, Stan. Only you would get wasted off fuckin' wine coolers." Kyle murmured under his breathe as he basically carried the taller boy through the labyrinth of people and threw him down on the couch.

"Ah!" Stan jumped as he hit the cushions and looked up at Kyle with furrowed brows. "How the hell'd I get here?"

"You fell asleep on me in front of Wendy, so I had to drag you out here." Kyle explained exasperatedly as he sat down next to him.

Stan groaned as he held his head. "Fuck, Kyle. I'm fuckin' spinnin'." He slurred, sounding almost in pain.

"I told you not to drink so much, douche bag." Kyle chastised as he glared without compassion at him.

"I know, I know! I just- uhhh." Stan's sentence cut off as he burped loudly and clutched at his stomach. "I feel sick, dude."

"Serves you right." Kyle turned up his nose at him as he watched him grimace with nausea. "I hope you throw up all over Wendy."

"Aw, fuck you, man!" Stan hiccupped as he threw a poorly aimed punch at Kyle's face.

Kyle laughed as he chugged the last of his drink and threw the empty bottle on the floor. He knew it would really start to hit him soon, making him feel more than a little dizziness, which is all he currently felt.

"Kyle!" Stan pointed angrily at the bottle he'd thrown on the ground. "Pick that up!"

Kyle laughed harder and shook his head. "No fuckin' way, man. It's my party, it's Token's house. I don' haveta worry 'bout it."

"But," Stan pouted like a little kid, making Kyle snicker. "That's rude."

"Stan," Kyle paused, blinking a few times and rubbing his head as he started to feel faintly disoriented. "I'm not at home. Er, I mean I'm leavin' soon, and I jus' don' feel like worryin' about it."

Stan scooted closer to Kyle and pressed his cheek against the back of the couch, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Does yer mom make ya want to drink?" He hadn't meant to ask his question so blatantly, but in his current state he didn't have much of a filter on what he said.

Kyle closed his eyes for a moment, resting his own head close to Stan's. "Would ya blame me if she did?"

Stan shook his head, which was kind of hard to do when his face was squashed against the couch.

Kyle sighed, his alcohol saturated breathe blowing a few loose pieces of Stan's hair. "She s'not so bad all the time. It's just that- that she won't listen to 'nything I say or want. S' all 'bout what she wants. Ya know?"

Stan nodded, though his friend's words sounded sort of jumbled at the moment.

"I mean, I get good grades 'cause she wants me to. I stay home whenever she wants me to. I take care of Ike 'cause she wants me to. And the second I try n' su'gest something I want to do, she acts like everything's always 'bout me."

Stan nodded again and Kyle starred at him for a long time, his eyes drooping slightly as he noticed how tired he suddenly was.

"Sorry, dude. It's totally gay fer me ta talk 'bout this during a party." Kyle laughed to himself as he sat up.

Stan shook his head. "S' alright, man." He patted his friend on the head, making him stick out his tongue in a childish gesture.

Stan's eyes flickered over Kyle's head for a moment, catching Cartman watching them discreetly from the corner of the room. Stan lowered his gaze to Kyle, his face turning a bit darker as he leaned forward so he was only inches away from his freckled face.

"Careful," he purred, his voice sounding strangely husky with his slurred speech as he glanced down at Kyle's tongue, still hanging out of his mouth. "Or someone might bite that off."

Kyle's face flushed a deep red as his eyes searched his friend's face in confusion, but he didn't back away. "Waddaya think yer doin'?" He questioned, and Stan's eyes widened in surprise for half a second, before turning lazy and seductive again.

"Whatever ya want me to do." He replied, licking his lips suggestively.

Kyle narrowed his bright green eyes challengingly. "Yer bluffin'."

Stan raised a dark eye brow and shifted an inch closer to the red head. "Try me."

Kyle was quiet for a second, seeming to teeter on the edge of moving closer or pulling away when he burst out into laughter.

"Get off, dude." He shoved Stan away and he landed on his back, starring with a hazy confusion at the ceiling. His vision was blocked, though, when Kyle leaned over the top of him, pressing his shoulders into the cushions. His pale face was contorted in an angry scowl. "Don't fuck with me, asshole." He growled, and just as suddenly as he was on top of him, he was off, sitting back in his own spot.

Stan sat up slowly, his foggy mind hardly able to comprehend what had just happened. He gaped openly at the side of Kyle's face, at a loss for words. Finally, he chuckled lowly and reached blindly out to grip at his shoulder, fumbling a few times before he grabbed it.

"Guess ya know me better-" He was cut off by a hiccup. "Than I thought."

"Yeah," Kyle replied, his face serious. "'N don' ferget it."

"Well isn't this precious?" A shadow fell over them as they looked up to find Kenny grinning down at them.

Kyle stood up, bringing Stan with him. "Whatever, Ken." He started as he glanced at his watch. It was already one in the morning. "You take care of him now, alright?" He shoved Stan into Kenny's arms and they both nearly toppled over from the sudden movement.

"Are ya sure you don't need someone ta take care of you, too?" Kenny raised a concerned eye brow at the way Kyle was swaying precariously on the spot.

The red head blinked slowly a few times. "No." He declared firmly. "I'm fine."

"Kay," Kenny nodded as he let Stan lean against him to keep himself from falling over. "I saw Cartman go back to the study, if you wanna go see him."

"_Why _would I want ta go…" Kyle paused for a moment, his eyes glazing over as he was seemingly lost for words. "Go chase lard ass down?"

Kenny giggled, swaying under Stan's weight. "I didn' say ya had to chase him, ya flamer."

"Fuck off, Ken." Kyle glared at the flushed blond and left him to deal with Stan falling all over him.

He wasn't far through the huge crowd of people in the living room when someone stopped him.

"Kyle!" A high-pitched voice shouted. The red head looked around lazily, until he was nearly tackled by a fairly small, blond headed person.

"Uh, Butters? Is that you?" Kyle grabbed the boy's shoulders and pried him off, taking his beet red face and horribly ruffled hair as an indication that he had been drinking.

"Well, it sure is, Kyle!" The boy replied, his eyes shining.

Kyle laughed to himself and drug the boy away from the masses of people jumping around and shoving each other in every direction. He pulled him into a corner of the room that was fairly isolated from everyone else.

"So," Kyle started, vaguely registering that he would probably feel awkward right now if he were in his right mind. "How's yer summer goin'?"

"Oh, it's been swell!" Butters announced happily, his face lighting up. "My parents ungrounded me on account of me gettin' good grades."

"That's good." Kyle patted the blond on the shoulder, smiling at the way Butters' bad grammar became more prominent when he'd been drinking.

"Yeah!" He agreed enthusiastically, but then his face turned serious. "I really shouldn't be here now; my parents would be right sore if they founded out. But I just had to say good-bye, Kyle!" At this the boy threw his arms around Kyle's neck in a death grip.

"Ya shouldn't a come if you were gunna get in trouble. I don't want yer parents ta ground you again 'cause you were at our lame party." Kyle patted Butters' back as he started to pull away.

"I know. I just reckoned that I had ter say good-bye!" He declared, his blue eyes going wide.

"That's good, that's good." Kyle nodded at him and smiled. "Well, I'll sure miss ya, dude." He stated as he leaned against the wall, feeling unsteady.

"Well gosh! I'll miss you guys, too!" Butters mashed his knuckles together worriedly in an old habit he never learned to get rid of.

"Don't worry; we'll be sure to write." Kenny affirmed as he came up beside Kyle, winking at the blond boy in front of him.

"Golly, sure would be nice." Butters nodded eagerly at Kenny's words before he began backing away. "Well, I'd better be gettin' home; before my parents find out I'm gone. I just wanted to see you guys before I left."

"See ya, Butters." Kyle waved as the short blond quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"Waddaya say we get outta here?" Kenny suggested as he came to stand in front of Kyle.

The red head shrugged. "Yeh, sure."

"Kay, I'mma go look fer Stan. You go get Eric- he should still be back there." Kenny motioned behind him in no particular direction as he took off.

Kyle wandered off through the living room, making his way to the back of the house where Token's dad's study was. The noise of the stereo seemed to lessen considerably as he walked along the halls, and by the time he made it to the back of the house he could barely hear it at all. He tried to keep quiet as he staggered through the halls, but he felt too clumsy at the moment and simply couldn't keep his balance.

"What the hell?" Came a voice to his right as he ran into the wall.

Kyle pushed himself slowly away from the hard plaster and looked up to his right, where Cartman was standing. "Wha'sup?" Kyle slurred stupidly, wishing desperately that he could stop acting like such an idiot.

"Jesus, Kyle." Cartman huffed in annoyance as he grabbed the red head by the back of his collar and made him stand up straight. "What's going on? What do you want?"

"Um…" Kyle thought for a moment, forgetting why he had come to find the brunette in the first place. His glassy, green eyes found Cartman's hazy brown ones and he starred at him for a long time, unsure of where he even was anymore.

"Hey." Cartman shook him slightly, trying to bring him out of his strange trance.

"Oh!" Kyle jumped, shoving the larger boy away from him as he straightened himself up. "We're leavin'. I was just comin' ta get you."

"Okay." Cartman nodded and the two of them started walking back, Kyle feeling a little more coordinated.

"Why's it so much quieter back here?" Kyle wondered aloud as he glanced around the isolated hallway.

"There's more insulation," Cartman commented off handedly. "Probably 'cause it's where the study is- so ya can get more work done."

Kyle nodded his head absentmindedly, deciding that was a pretty good explanation. As they reached the living room, they caught sight of Stan and Kenny waiting for them near the front door.

"Heya guys!" Kenny greeted as they walked up to them, struggling to keep Stan upright. "I'm gunna take Stan ta the car- seeya at Stark's Pond?"

"Wha?" Kyle gave the blond a confused look. "Why aren' we jus goin' home- 'n why do I haveta ride with fatass?"

Kenny rolled his eyes, making him loose his balance for a moment. "Welllll- I don' know 'bout you, but I'm not so ready ta go home yet. 'N I promised Stan I'd make sure nothin' bad happened ta him, so I have to stay with him. 'N Cartman needs some'n ta take care of him, right?" Kenny smirked and reached up to pinch the brunette's cheek, making him growl and slap his hand away.

"Whatever, man." Cartman frowned down at his friend. Kenny smiled back up at him as he bent down to lift up one of the crates of alcohol and shove it at the brunette.

"Carry this." He demanded.

Cartman glared at the blond and shoved him out of the way, Kyle following behind him. "We'll meet you guys there."

Kenny nodded, smirking after them as he readjusted his hold on Stan and managed to hold the other crate in one arm as they made their way out to his truck.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope this chapter didn't seem completely boring and pointless to all of you- because it's important in character development to me. There wasn't a lot of interaction between Cartman and Kyle, I was just getting to that part when I had to cut this chapter short. This was just (for me) something that I felt the guys would go through- I mean, you can't just have them leave without saying goodbye to all their old friends and stuff! So, I hope you all don't hate me for taking so long and whatnot, but I PROMISE the next chapter will not be this freakin' long or take as long for me to finish!

Thanks so much to everyone who's following this story- hope to hear your guy's feedback and I am vowing more action in the next chapter :)


	5. Before You Go part 2

**A/N: **Okay, so this chapter is my shortest yet, but I think it's my favorite so far! Haha :) Hope it didn't take too long to get out.

Once again, I apologize for my horrible attempt at trying to write people being drunk... I tried really hard to make it better this chapter, though :)

Can I just say thanks to all of my reviewers last chapter? I was feeling pretty crappy about the last one I posted, so knowing that you guys stuck through it with me really helped me keep going :)

Actually, thanks to all of you guys in general- I love you!

* * *

"Use yer fuckin' legs, asshole." Kenny mumbled to himself as he drug Stan's dead weight across Token's front yard, his crate of alcohol tucked in the nook of his arm.

The black haired teen groaned weakly into Kenny's neck, making him sigh and shake him off, letting him fall to the ground with a muffled thud.

"Ah, fuck!" Stan swore loudly, glaring up at his friend's amused blue eyes, shining dimly in the dark.

"Sorry dude." Kenny chuckled amusedly as he helped his friend up. "But there's no way I'm draggin' yer fat ass all the way to tha car."

"'S no problem." Stan responded offhandedly as he rubbed his ass, grabbing a hold of Kenny's shoulder to steady himself as they made their way to the truck. "Are we goin' ta yer house?"

"Nah, not yet." Kenny replied, shaking his head as he opened the passenger door for Stan and set the crate of alcohol on his lap. "We're meetin' Kyle 'n Cartman at Stark's Pond."

Kenny closed the door and walked around to the driver's side, struggling to find a good grip before hoisting himself into the truck.

"Aw, Kenny." Stan pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Why'd ya let him go with him?"

Kenny gave his friend a strange look as he started up the ignition and blindly reached for his shift, missing it the first few times. "I though' we wanted ta force 'em together so they wouldn' be so annoyin' anymore?"

"Well yeah," Stan agreed. "But not when they've been drinkin'! Cartman might actually _kill _Kyle."

Kenny broke into laughter at this, causing the car to swerve horribly on the road. "Why would them drinkin' make any diff?"

Stan ran a hand through his hair as he fought desperately for focus. "'Cause Kyle has no good sense when he's drunk! He could seriously piss Cartman off, like really bad."

Kenny rolled his eyes both at his friend's worries and his poor grammer. "I don't think Cartman would ever really hurt Kyle beyond repair."

"Whatever, man." Stan responded, shaking his head slightly as he laid it down on the wooden crate in his lap.

"You were pretty good tonight, by tha way. I mean, when you guys were on the couch 'n stuff." Kenny commented as he focused back on the road, trying to keep the car as straight as possible.

Stan's shoulders shook as he laughed softly. "Bullshit. He knows, dude."

Kenny brows drew together as he starred at the road. "Waddaya mean?"

Stan took a deep breathe. "He called me out at tha party- said I was full a shit, 'er somethin'."

Kenny laughed and shook his head. "I shoulda known he'd be able ta see through ya."

Stan nodded, smiling at the side of Kenny's face. "Yeh, but I'm sure you'll think a somethin' else."

"Damned straight I will." Kenny nodded in determination and took his eyes off the road to glance over at Stan, causing him to nearly run over the curb.

"Dude, yer a horrible driver." Stan accused as he sat up to monitor his friend's driving.

"Hey, don't insult me right now, man. Yer life is in my hands." Kenny replied, taking both of his hands off the steering wheel momentarily as he held them up for emphasis.

"Whatever, dude. You'd never do 'nything ta hurt me." Stan stated with a kind of brutal honesty that only surfaces when you're drunk.

Kenny paused for a moment. "Yer right," he replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "I wouldn't."

* * *

"Would ya knock it off with yer fuckin' singing, Jew?" Cartman demanded harshly as he glared at the road.

"Fuck offff, dude." Kyle ignored the larger boy and continued singing the chorus of some girly song.

Kyle was actually a good singer, and had a real knack for hitting the higher notes, which is why he preferred songs sung by girls. Though he usually only sang alone in his room, or when he was with Stan, who had tried all through their high school career to convince him to join Choir.

He was sure he would be mortified tomorrow knowing that he let Eric Cartman hear him singing the way he was. He'd never stop calling him a fag.

The brunette listened in silence, though, as Kyle's voice drifted softly, and in perfect pitch, through the car. His words were faintly slurred, but it seemed to make the song even better, and something completely his own. Cartman's eyes grew wide in shock as he realized he didn't mind listening to Kyle sing, really. There was something about the nearly whispered tone, hitting the high notes uncannily well, that was comforting- or something like that. Cartman soon found his head tilting to the side and his eye lids weighing down heavily in contentment- before he snapped out of it and made sure to insult the Jew again.

"God you listen to some faggy ass music." The brunette grumbled, making Kyle pause in his singing. He starred at Cartman for several seconds before shrugging and continuing the song.

"Fuckin' knock it off, Jew!" Cartman growled out, if only to hear some noise other than Kyle's voice as he clutched the steering wheel almost painfully.

"God, calm tha fuck down." Kyle rolled his eyes, but stopped singing as his attention was diverted out the window. "Are we there almost?"

"Yes." Cartman replied shortly as he tried to train his focus on the road and not the red head riding beside him.

"Why're we goin' to Stark's Pond, anyways?" Kyle questioned quietly, almost to himself.

"You know Kenny," Cartman replied. "He can be pretty nostalgic."

Kyle nodded and let his body slide down in his seat until he was nearly lying down. "I'm fuckin' tired."

"Yer a fuckin' lightweight, bitch." Cartman stated, scoffing at the red head.

"No, I'm jus' not as fat as you." Kyle corrected, smirking at the affronted look that came over the brunette's face.

"Sorry everyone can't be a skinny-ass diabetic Jew." Cartman spat venomously, shooting a sideways glance at the red head to catch his reaction.

Kyle sighed, making Cartman quirk in eye brow in confusion. "Really, Cartman? Yer seriously makin' fun of tha fact that I'm skinnier than you?"

Cartman's face went blank as Kyle chuckled to himself and shook his head. Cartman had definitely never thought of it that way before, but the more that he did, the angrier it made him. Fuck Kyle for being so fuckin' insightful when he's drunk.

"We're here." Cartman stated shortly, deciding to ignore Kyle's comment as he slammed on the brakes.

"Ow!" Kyle exclaimed as his head smashed into the glove compartment. "Fuck, Cartman!"

"No thanks." The larger boy mumbled as he hopped out of the car, Kyle following his lead as he clutched at his nose in pain.

"Wha' didya do to Kyle?" A voice came from behind the two, making them turn around in confusion.

Stan came storming between them, shoving Kyle lightly towards Kenny who prevented him from falling over. Stan stopped less than a foot away from Cartman, his face red and his hands clenched into tight fists at his side.

Cartman took a deep breathe and put on a neutral expression. "I didn't do anything to him."

"Then why's he hurt?" Stan yelled, pointing at the red head whose hand seemed frozen over his nose, his eyes wide as he starred at the two of them.

"Cause he's fuckin' clumsy." Cartman replied, shrugging nonchalantly as Stan practically glowed with anger. He took one giant step towards the brunette and fisted his hand in his shirt, pulling him to his chest.

"God dammit, Cartman." Stan hissed, his alcohol soaked breathe sinking heavily over Cartman's face.

A small smile curled itself into Cartman's mouth, breaking his carefully blank features. "What exactly do you think you're going to do about it, Stan?"

"Fuckin' kill you, tha's what!" Stan spat somewhat incoherently, jerking the hand that was fisted into Cartman's shirt. You had to give the fatass credit for remaining so calm- he might have had a good two inches on the black haired teen, but he was nothing in comparison to his strength.

"Kill me? Really?" Cartman cocked an amused eyebrow at the flustered teen, making him nearly shake with rage. "You are the biggest tree hugging pussy I've ever met, Stan. You don't have the guts to fight me- let alone _kill _me."

Stan's eyes narrowed into slits and his nostrils flared as his grip on Cartman's shirt tightened. He pulled him aggressively forward until they were nose to nose. "_Try me._" He spat dangerously, his mouth set into a dark scowl.

"Okay, okay- that's enough." Kenny's voice came from behind them as he stepped away from a wide eyed Kyle. He grabbed Stan around his middle and managed to pull him back. The black haired teen struggled fiercely against his hold, his eyes never leaving Cartman's.

"Dammit, let me go Kenny!" Stan shouted as he attempted to pry the blonde's hands off of him, but he wouldn't relent.

"No fuckin' way, dude." Kenny shook his head as he panted with the effort of restraining his friend. "Yer overreacting, Stan! Yer just drunk- Kyle is fine and yer gunna leave Cartman alone. This is ridiculous."

"No!" Stan exclaimed loudly, thrashing in Kenny's hold and nearly elbowing him in the face. "You don' get it, Ken! He hurt Kyle! He _hurt _Kyle."

"Stan, I'm fine." Kyle spoke up, coming to stand in front of his friend. "See?"

Stan stopped struggling and Kenny let him go.

"He didn't hurt you?" Stan asked as he stepped forward, inspecting Kyle's face closely.

"No. Seriously dude, I'm fine. Stop freakin' out." The red head rolled his eyes as Stan threw his arms around him in a hug.

"I'm so glad yer okay!" He cried into his shoulder as Kyle patted his back comfortingly and glanced uneasily at Kenny and Cartman.

"You should never drink again, dude." Kyle suggested as Stan lifted his head back up to look at him. His hair was completely disheveled and his face was a blotchy red from a mixture of alcohol and anger.

"I won't!" Stan agreed dramatically, his lower lip jutting out in a pout as he gave his friend a desperate look. "I don't like feeling like this."

"Don' worry," Kyle comforted, throwing an arm around his shoulder as they started making their way to the pond. "You'll feel better soon, s' long as ya can stop yerself from pickin' a fight wit' someone three times bigger 'an you."

"I could take him!" Stan declared fiercely, turning to glare over his shoulder at Cartman.

Kyle chuckled. "Yeah, okay."

The four of them sat down at the edge of the water, Cartman next to Kyle, Kyle next to Stan and Stan next to Kenny.

"This place is fuckin' disgusting." Kyle slurred as Kenny threw back a drink from a bottle of vodka he brought and passed it along, strategically skipping Stan. It would really be better if he didn't get in a fight with anyone. "Was it always like this?"

"Probably." Cartman shrugged as Kyle took a long drink and sighed, handing it to the brunette shakily.

The pond looked murky and green, algae coating the surface and a thick haze drifting lazily around it. Kyle found it odd that he had never noticed this when they were kids, but things always did seem so much better when you were young. You never really took the time to scrutinize things in such negative ways.

Stan lay back in the grass, his head swimming dizzily as he clutched his stomach.

"You okay?" Kyle questioned, sounding concerned. Stan simply nodded his head and closed his eyes, waiting for the nausea to pass.

"Ah!" Kenny suddenly exclaimed, his face alight with excitement as he turned to his three friends. "I have an idea."

Kyle chuckled stupidly as he slopped some of the clear liquid on the grass after chugging some more down. "Wha?"

Kenny paused dramatically, entrancing them with his childish smile. "We should play truth or dare!"

Cartman scoffed loudly and rolled his eyes. "The fuck, Kenny? We're not nine 'nymore."

"Exactly, fatass. It'll be way more fun now." The blond countered and turned to Kyle for support. "Right?"

The red head shrugged indifferently. "Yeh, shure."

"Okay!" Kenny scooted his body so that they formed a deformed kind of circle and rubbed his hands together in delight. "Who goes first?"

"Cartman!" Kyle offered immediately, poking the larger boy's arm.

"Fuck no. Kenny came up with tha idea- he goes firs'." Cartman demanded, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Fine, okay." Kenny agreed, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket and lighting one up. "Kyle," his voice was slightly muffled around the filter as he blew out a puff of smoke. "Truth or dare?"

"Ahm- truth." Kyle stumbled somewhat over his words, finding his functions becoming increasingly dulled.

Kenny tapped his chin in thought for a moment as he took a drag of his cigarette. "Have you 'n Stan ever made out?"

Kyle burst out into hysterical laughter as he nodded his head. "Yeah!"

Stan shot up from the ground, immediately regretting the action as it made his stomach churn. "Kyle!" He groaned, glaring at his friend with a pained expression as he nearly puked all over himself.

"Wha? It's true!" Kyle narrowed his eyes in self defense as he gave his friend a light push.

"Well yeh, but we said we wouldn' tell anyone!" Stan accused as he went to shove Kyle's head, but ended up misaiming horribly as he lost his balance. He fell into Kyle's side, his arm coming around his shoulders and their faces landing dangerously close to one another.

"I didn't say I needed a demonstration, guys." Kenny giggled as both guys grew red.

"Whatever, Ken." Kyle quickly pushed Stan off of him, nearly sending him toppling into Kenny.

"You guys did not seriously make out before." Cartman stated, giving the two of them an incredulous look.

Kyle nodded his head vigorously in affirmation. "We did so!"

"When?" Cartman questioned skeptically, narrowing his eyes at the smaller boy.

"Uh," Kyle paused to think, his mind somewhat unclear at the moment. "Oh yeah! We were in Stan's room-"

"Alone?" Kenny cut in and Kyle nodded.

"And we had been smoking-"

"Weed?" Kenny interrupted again and Kyle nodded in confirmation.

"And, well, I don't know. You're mind tends to fuck with ya when yer fucked." Kyle shrugged and laughed at himself as Stan shook his head in disbelief.

"You are fuckin' retarded right now, Kyle."

"Yer the one who wanted ta pick a fight with Cartman 'cause ya thought he'd hurt me er somethin'." Kyle countered, making a childish face at his friend.

"You guys are seriously so fuckin' gay." Cartman stated, his expression unreadable as he starred at them. "Have you ever even kissed a _girl_ before, Kahl?"

"Yes. I kissed Rebecca Cunts-whatever." Kyle waved his hand dismissively in the air.

"When you were like nine, faggot!" Cartman pointed out, his face growing red.

Kyle was saved a comeback as Kenny suddenly interjected. "I can't believe you two smoked pot alone." He declared, looking dejected as he let his slowly burning cigarette hang from his mouth. "I though' ya only ever did it with me!"

"Well, we had some left over once time," Kyle explained. "And we jus' though' we'd finish it. 'Sides, you smoke alone with Cartman all tha time."

Kenny huffed. "I guess so."

"Anyway, my turn now!" Kyle sang as Stan laid back down, shaking his head in incredulity at his friend's stupidity.

"Cartman!" Kyle declared, watching in amusement as the brunette scowled threateningly at him.

"Truth, faggot." He responded immediately, looking bored.

"This is gunna be no fun if no one picks dare." Kenny commented. Cartman shot him an ambivalent look, clearly displaying that he didn't give a fuck.

"All right! I've got uh question for ya, lard ass." Kyle stated, obviously not paying any attention to him and Kenny's exchange.

Cartman waited for a second, but Kyle seemed to have drifted off into his own world for a moment. "Well?" He gave the red head a rough shove on the shoulder. "You gunna ask me er not?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kyle's face lit up before he took a dramatic pause, much to Cartman's chagrin. "Did you really not like my singin'?"

Cartman's jaw dropped open- he had definitely not been expecting a question like that. Actually, he hadn't thought about what kind of question he was expecting, but if he had it wouldn't have been something like that.

"And no lyin'!" Kyle demanded, his bottom lip stuck out and his face set in a determined expression as he crossed his arms.

Cartman opened his mouth to lie, he really did, but when his words came out they were anything but. He blamed it on the alcohol, and Kyle's ridiculous pout, and the fact that he actually was a good singer- it all contributing to his mind going fuzzy for a second, just long enough for him to blurt out, "No."

"I knew it!" Kyle smiled widely and pounded a fist into the air, his eyes sparkling joyfully.

Cartman snarled in annoyance. "Whatever, Jew. I'm so done with lame-ass mother fuckin' game. I'm," he pointed to himself with a thick finger. "Goin' home."

Kenny broke from his laughter at Cartman's reaction to stop him. "Wait, Cartman, you have to take Kyle!"

Cartman groaned loudly and ran a hand in distress through his mousy brown hair. "All right, come on Jew."

Kyle nodded and stood up quickly, stumbling forward in his poor coordination and seizing onto Cartman's arm for support.

"God dammit, Kahl. Learn ta walk!" Cartman demanded in frustration as he pried the smaller boy off of him and held onto his shoulders until he was steady.

"Soooory!" Kyle snapped, glaring blearily at him. "I have had too much to drink."

"Well that's a fuckin' given." Cartman mumbled as he steered Kyle towards his car.

"How come yer not so bad?" Kyle questioned curiously as Cartman shoved him towards the passenger side door, forcing him to catch himself against it.

"Because I'm fat, remember." Cartman retorted over the top of his car, his eyes growing dark. Kyle swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling intimidated by the larger boy as he quickly hopped inside his car.

"I'm sorry." Kyle murmured down at his hands as Cartman started the car.

The brunette raised a curious eye brow. "Why?"

"Because you haveta take me ta yer house. And 'cause I called you fat."

"You call me fat all the time, Jew. What makes that time any different?" Cartman demanded, his voice growing angry.

"I dunno." Kyle shrugged and slowly brought his face up to look at Cartman.

The larger boy's deep, brown eyes steadily softened the longer he looked into Kyle's green ones. Though they were slightly glazed over from the alcohol, he was sure he had never seen such an honest gleam to them. Cartman captured his gaze and committed the look in his eyes to his memory, making sure he would never forget the moment Kyle Broflovski was unquestionably apologetic about something he did to him.

It took Cartman a moment to realize that the smaller teen wasn't breathing quiet right, though he didn't stop starring at him. His look turned to one of confusion as he caught the small, erratic breathes Kyle was taking as his lids grew heavier and his fists tightened against his thighs. Cartman leaned forward just an inch, and Kyle's breathe became more labored, his eyes nearly falling closed. He shifted so his body was completely facing the red head, and he watched as his jade eyes trailed the path of his tongue sweeping across his lips. Cartman watched all of this, but he didn't understand it. He didn't even understand his own movements. They appeared to come without his consent.

When he had regained control of himself he swiftly sat back into his seat, watching as Kyle took a deep, almost relieved breathe.

Eric Cartman had no idea what had just happened, but he thought he understood that the strange, sick feeling in his stomach he was left with afterwards had undoubtedly and irreversibly changed him. He just didn't understand why.

* * *

**A/N: **Eh, I hope that last part sounded okay. I was kinda iffy on it.

Anyway- whaddaya think? I think we're getting close to some breakthroughs, here:)

Just to let you guys know, if you have any one has suggestions or ideas, I'm totally up for anything. I usually just wing my chapters, though I do have a very, very loose outline for how I want this to end up.

I hope you all liked it!^^


	6. Departure

**A/N: **Woah, so sorry for the super long delay on this update! I guess I got too caught up in worrying about getting all my final tests and projects finished before summer :) but, now that I am all done, you should expect more frequent updates. For the most part^^

This chapter was super fun, and I really loved all your reviews last chapter! Thanks so much, my loyal readers :)

I did get one question from someone who submitted a review, asking if Stan was gay or bi or straight, or whatever. Sorry if I didn't make this very clear to everyone, but the whole "plan" of Stan and Kenny's kind of did make Stan look gay. He's not, for the purpose of my fic, he's just really close with his 'super best friend', and the whole 'Stan trying to seduce Kyle' was part of their plan. Kind of a stupid plan, I know, but I'm doing my best here! And the whole truth or dare thing, where Kyle said that he and Stan had kissed before, you could look at as part of Kenny's plan, or his own strange, genuine curiosity on the subject. But I don't look at that tiny fact as making Stan gay. So, I hope that clears things up for anyone that was foggy on that certain subject^^

And now, ENJOY!

* * *

Kyle felt like someone was beating his head in with a hammer, a sensation that only increased as he started to regain consciousness. He vaguely acknowledged that his mouth tasted dry and disgusting as he tried to work around the fuzziness in his mind. His entire body was thrumming with an acute pain as he attempted to roll over and discovered that he was tightly wrapped in something. Something that engulfed him in the kind of warmth you feel when you sit next to a fireplace after being out in freezing snow all day. A warmth that reached inside of him, curling his body into a tight, blissful cocoon. His headache and general soreness were forgotten as he sighed in contentment. He could have slept like that all day, if it wasn't for the distraction of someone's obnoxious snoring.

"Gragfff!" Kyle attempted to talk, but all that came out was a strangled gurgling noise. He focused on opening his eyes and blinked them several times.

"Tha fffuck?" Kyle slurred as he took in the room around him. It looked like Cartman's basement. He turned his head and, sure enough, there was the fatass, sleeping on a futon a few feet away.

Kyle rubbed his eyes and looked down at his body. He was wrapped up like a friggin' burrito in about ten heavy blankets. He couldn't move anything below his chest. What the hell?

He wiggled around desperately, trying to get loose, but just ended up falling off the couch.

"Oof!" He groaned in pain as he starred resignedly up at the wooden pylons on the ceiling. He was about to just close his eyes and try to go back to sleep when a large figure leaned over him.

"What are you doing, Jew?" Cartman questioned, his brown eyes squinting down at him in confusion.

"I was trying to get out of these fucking blankets and I… rolled off the couch." Kyle admitted, looking away from Cartman's gaze as his face grew red.

"Well," Cartman started as he kneeled down to un-wrap the red head. "You didn't seem to mind them so much last night."

"Oh really?" Kyle responded, eye brow cocked in intrigue.

"Yeah, you were fuckin' freezing. You practically begged me to roll you up in them. I tried to tell you it was a stupid idea, but you just wouldn't listen. You got so fuckin' annoying I ended up doing it just to shut you up."

Kyle scoffed in incredulity. "Yeah right. You probably did this just to torture me."

Cartman paused in the middle of lifting off his third blanket, frowning down at his freckled face. "God dammit, Kyle. Not everything I do is just to spite you. I have a fuckin' life of my own, ya know."

Kyle just rolled his eyes, causing Cartman to lean his body over him, his face growing dark. "Not everything is about you."

His brown eyes caught Kyle's green ones again and neither seemed able to look away. That feeling Cartman had last night was back, making him feel dizzy and nauseous. Kyle broke the moment, though, when his head gave a particularly painful throb, making him wince. Cartman smirked as he backed away, going back to untangling the blankets.

"How do you feel?"

"Like someone killed me, brought me back to life, and then threw me off the side of a mountain." Kyle replied as he rubbed his head.

"Yeah, you were pretty fucked last night." Cartman stated as Kyle finally regained the movement of his lower body and was able to shake off the last of the blankets.

"I know, dude. I barely even remember anything." Kyle declared as he stood up. He stretched gratefully and yawned.

Cartman's face fell for just a moment. He really hadn't expected Kyle to remember anything, so he didn't understand the twang of disappointment he felt at this confirmation.

"Dude, is your mom home?"

"Uh- I think so." Cartman answered, slightly taken back by this question. "Why?"

"I want her fuckin' chocolate chip and banana pancakes." Kyle groaned loudly at the thought, his face taking on a blissful expression.

"That's sick, Kahl." Cartman made a disgusted face at the red head.

"Why?"

"Eating when you have a hangover makes most people sicker." Cartman explained, his own stomach giving a painful lurch at the mere thought of food.

"Really? I always crave your mom's pancakes when I have a hangover." Kyle shut his mouth quickly and scrunched up his face in confusion as to why he'd just blurted that out.

"Weirdo." Cartman accused after a short pause.

"It's not weird!" Kyle demanded, feeling his face heat up. "It's probably just because every time we go to a party I end up having to crash at your house. And your mom always makes pancakes in the morning."

Cartman simply nodded, a huge smirk forming on his face. Kyle chose to ignore him as he made his way up the stairs.

Cartman would never tell the red head, but he had accidentally let it slip to his mom one time that Kyle loved her chocolate chip and banana pancakes. She made them for him every time he stayed over, which really was only when they got drunk. Cartman's mom absolutely adored Kyle, despite her son's constant assurance that he was nothing but a stinking, thieving Jew.

Liane was already in the kitchen, the smell of her pancakes flooding the upstairs. Kyle sighed and closed his eyes, the familiar aroma making him feel strangely calm.

"Good morning poopsie-kins." Cartman's mom greeted cheerfully as she flipped a pancake.

"Morning ma." Cartman responded as he sat across the kitchen table from Kyle.

"Did you two have fun last night?" Liane questioned, her back turned to them as she fiddled with the skillet.

Kyle shrugged and yawned, trying to remember exactly what had happened the night before. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I hope you're hungry!" She exclaimed, turning her head to give Kyle a wink.

Kyle laughed. "I am."

"Good." She replied as she reached over the skillet to turn it off. She shuffled around for a few minutes, pulling down two plates and setting a pile of pancakes on each.

Kyle nearly drooled as Liane set his plate in front of him. Cartman watched in fascination as the red head began devouring his food, putting even him to shame. Liane sat a plate in front of her son, but his stomach gave a nauseated twist as he glanced down at it, causing him to push it away in disinterest and occupy himself with watching Kyle eat. Cartman had literally never seen anyone so small eat so gluttonously. Kyle was finished by the time he felt Cartman's eyes on him.

"What?" He questioned as he wiped a line of syrup off his chin. Cartman had to suppress a laugh.

"Nothin'. I've just never seen anyone eat like that before." He pointed out as his mom came over to take their plates away.

Kyle scoffed, crossing his arms over his full stomach. "Why don't you just look in the mirror the next time you open a bag of cheesy poofs."

Cartman's lips curled into a snarl as he pushed away from the table. He wasn't trying to insult Kyle, he actually thought it was kind of endearing. "Whatever, Jew. You can go now- I have to finish packing my stuff."

"Packing for what, poopsie-kins?" Liane questioned as she rinsed off a plate in the sink.

"I guess that's my cue to leave." Kyle mumbled to himself as he stood up.

"Yeah." Cartman agreed, tapping his foot impatiently as Kyle continued to stand awkwardly in the kitchen.

"Um… thanks for breakfast, Liane!" Kyle complemented, giving a short wave to Cartman's mom before dashing out of the house.

"What a sweet boy." Liane cooed as she turned off the faucet and wiped her hands on the dish rag swung over her shoulder.

Cartman rolled his eyes. He hopped up, with just a little difficulty, onto the counter next to his mom as she started unloading the dish washer.

"Did you have something you wanted to talk to me about, Eric?" Liane questioned as she eyed her son suspiciously. He never stuck around unless he wanted something.

"Yeah, I do." Cartman started, resting his hands on his thighs as he let his legs swing above the ground. "I'm leaving today."

Liane froze for a moment, right in the middle of stacking a bowl into the cabinet. She turned her head slowly to look at her son. "What do you mean you're leaving, sweetums?"

"I mean, me and the guys have planned an all-summer road trip and we're leaving today."

Liane sighed, letting her hands drop to her side as she tried her best to come up with some argument. There was no denying the fact that her son was an excellent debater, though, and she really didn't have the right to make him stay. He did just turn eighteen this year.

"Eric, that could be very dangerous and expensive! What if something happens to you?" She pleaded, trying desperately to persuade him. She could already see the determination in his eyes though, telling her that he had made up his mind a long time ago.

"Oh, mahm." Cartman waved a dismissive hand. "I can take care of myself!"

Liane reached up to place a hand on her son's shoulder. "I know you can." She paused for a long moment, chewing worriedly on the inside of her cheek. The corners of her lips quirked into a small, forced smile as her eyes dropped in concession. "Alright, dear. I know you don't need my approval-"

"Damn straight." He cut in, nodding in agreement.

"Just be careful." She warned, her eyes narrowing as she gave him a hard look.

Cartman wouldn't ever admit this to anyone, but when his mom gave him that look- the one where she stares right into your fucking _soul_- it always managed to give him goosebumps. He couldn't figure out if it was because he was scared, or she was actually getting her message across, but he didn't like it. He shook his head a bit to break eye contact and jumped off the counter.

"I'm gunna go finish packing." He stated, making sure not to catch his mother's eyes again as he headed upstairs.

* * *

"Uh, mom? Dad?" Stan called as he walked in the front door of his house. It was only five in the morning, and all of the lights were off. Stan could usually count on finding his mother in the kitchen no matter what time he came home, though. She had always had a problem with his dad's snoring, and she grew accustomed to early mornings or late nights without any sleep. Stan had told her several times that she could sleep in his room and he'd take the couch, but she had insisted that she'd gotten too used to only getting four hours of sleep a night, as long as she had her coffee.

Stan and Kenny had left Stark's Pond not long after Kyle and Cartman. It took Stan a while to make it safely to the car and it took Kenny a while to get them safely to his house, but they made it. Stan had spent a good hour and a half puking in the McCormick's dirty toilet before Kenny's dad got home. Richard was known for staying out late and getting drunk, and it was a well recognized fact that after a night of bingeing he was not a very pleasant person. So, even though all Stan wanted to do was crawl under the old, moth eaten blankets of Kenny's bed and pass out, he snuck out the back and texted Kenny, telling him that his dad had come home.

"Stan?" A soft voice came from the kitchen and the black haired teen made his way to the dimly lit room. Sure enough, his mom was standing in front of the sink, looking only half awake and squinting tiredly as she sipped on a cup of coffee.

"Hey, mom." Stan greeted as he slid a chair out from the dining room table and sat down heavily.

"What are you doing home, sweetheart?" She questioned as she went to pour a second mug of coffee for her son.

"Kyle's mom was upset about something so I decided to leave," he smiled gratefully as his mom handed him the mug and took a drink. "I hate being over there when they're all fighting." He felt the familiar guilty pang at lying to his mom, but glided over it as his nerves picked up. He had to tell his parents that he was leaving today. Would it be easier to just tell his mom now, and she could break the news to his dad later? She had always been good at calming him down and making him see reason.

"Do you know what they were fighting about?" Sharon asked off handedly as she sat across from her son.

"Actually, yes." Stan started, taking a shaky breathe as he fidgeted in his hard, wooden chair. "They were fighting about Kyle wanting to leave for the summer."

"Leave for the summer?" Sharon's eye brows quirked up in confusion. "Where does he want to go?"

"On a road trip. With me and Cartman and Kenny." There was a long silence as Stan bit his lip nervously, hoping that the blank expression on his mother's face didn't mean she was ready to implode.

"You… want to leave? All summer?" She clarified, leaning forward slightly with a concerned look.

"Yes." Stan nodded, fiddling anxiously with the brim of his coffee mug. "We just want to get away together before we all have to go our separate ways."

Sharon nodded slowly. "When are you leaving?"

Stan blinked several times, not believing how calm she was being. "Today."

"And you didn't tell me earlier because you thought I would stop you?"

"Pretty much." Stan hung his head to stare at the beaten wood of the kitchen table.

"Stan, you're eighteen. I can't stop you from doing anything. You realize that, right?" Sharon spoke softly, her voice sounding close to tears.

"I- I guess so, yeah." Stan stuttered as he brought up his eyes to look at his mother's face. She looked sad, yet happy at the same time.

"I have to be able to trust that you can make your own decisions now, Stan. You're leaving for college at the end of the summer. If you can't take care of yourself for these three months, then I guess you'll find out if you're cut out for living on your own or not." She smiled forcedly at him and he returned her expression.

"Thanks, mom."

She shook her head slightly, chuckling lowly. "If this is what you need to get the last bit of your high school stupidity out of your head, then go right ahead, sweetheart." There was a small pause where she sniffled before an amused thought played through her head. "Now, when do you want me to tell your dad?"

Stan laughed and reached across the table to place his hand over his mom's. "Maybe after I've actually left?"

She nodded. "I think I agree. He might be a little upset at first, but he'll be okay."

"I know." Stan patted his mom's hand as he stood up. "I have to go finish packing. I think we'll probably leave this afternoon. I'll come say goodbye before I go, okay?"

"Okay." Sharon watched her son walk up to his bedroom with tears on her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. She had had a feeling for a while that the four of them were up to something- especially when she had happened to see Kyle driving an old Volkswagen through the backstreets of town last week. So she wasn't entirely caught off guard. It was still difficult to realize that your kid thinks they're old enough to survive without you, though. But she had to learn to let go, and Sharon had learned a long time ago not to question her son's unpredictability or sense of good judgment. He would be okay because he always served as the voice of reason whenever he and his friends got themselves into trouble. Stan would be fine, even if none of the others would, she was certain of that.

* * *

Kyle, Stan and Cartman met each other at Stark's Pond around one o'clock. They each had a few bags slung over their shoulders as they waited for Kenny to pull up with the car.

"Hey, dude." Stan greeted Kyle as he walked up. "How did your parents take it?"

Kyle paused for a moment before smiling. "I'm here, aren't I?"

Stan smiled and threw an arm around his friend. "Right! Cartman, what about your mom? Was she upset?" Stan questioned as he glanced over at the unusually quiet brunette.

Cartman shrugged. "No. She was fine."

"What about your parents, Stan?" Kyle asked.

"My mom was more accepting of the idea than I thought. I'm not sure how my dad reacted though; my mom said she'd tell him after I was gone."

Kyle laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "I bet he'll be pretty pissed."

"Yeah, maybe for a little bit." Stan shrugged indifferently. "But he'll get over it."

Kyle nodded as a deep rumbling noise came from their right. The three of them turned to see Kenny driving up, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Hey guys!" He called out the window, waving at them all. "You ready to go?"

"Damn right we are, Kenny!" Cartman responded, a playful scowl on his face. "What took you so long, you poor piece of crap?"

"I had to make up some excuse to get out of the house," Kenny explained as Cartman hopped into the passenger seat and Kyle and Stan slid open the back doors. "My dad was on a rampage about someone stealing his stash of weed."

Kyle raised a suspicious eyebrow as he closed the back door, looking at Kenny in the rear view mirror. "And _did_ someone steal his weed?"

Kenny shrugged as he shifted the van into drive. "Maybe."

"Kenny," Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breathe. "Did you steal your dad's weed?"

"So what if I did?" Kenny responded, glancing in the rearview mirror to gauge Kyle's reaction.

"Answer the fucking question, Kenny!" Kyle demanded.

"Yes! I did, okay?" Kenny finally conceded, smirking to himself at the look on his friend's face.

"What's the big deal, Kyle?" Stan questioned, giving him a confused look.

"What if we get pulled over and a cop decides to search our car?" Kyle asked, leaning forward in his seat so he was in between Kenny and Cartman.

Kenny rolled his eyes and attempted to shove Kyle's face back with one hand, while driving haphazardly with the other. "Let it go, Kyle. We're leaving so we can stop worrying about shit, dude. Just sit back and shut the fuck up."

"Yeah." Stan nodded his head in agreement. "Besides, we brought all that alcohol Token and the guys got for us. We'd get in just as much trouble for that."

"I didn't know you brought the alcohol." Kyle mumbled to himself.

"Speaking of, I think I'll get myself a bottle right now." Stan declared, trying to lighten the mood. "You want anything, Kyle?"

"No." Kyle stated quietly, starring out the window.

"Come on." Stan persuaded, giving his friend a light shove on the shoulder.

"Stop bein' such an up-tight pussy, Kyle!" Kenny demanded, making the red head frown.

"All right, fine. Give me one." Kyle conceded, shaking his head in incredulity.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Kenny whooped and threw his hands into the air, letting go of the steering wheel. The car veered slightly towards the curb, but Kenny caught it in time to straighten them out.

Kyle clutched onto the side of his seat and searched for a seat belt, but it looked like it had been yanked right out of the wall. "Do you even know where you're going right now, Kenny?"

"Uh, I was just heading towards the freeway. Thought you'd remember to pull out the map sometime."

"Yeah, I've got it right here." Kyle stated as he shuffled through one of his bags. After a little searching, he finally pulled out a giant atlas he'd stolen from the junk drawer in his kitchen. "We should probably figure out where we're going to stop each night, if we decide to stop," Kyle spoke as he flipped through some pages, looking for Colorado. "We could probably pull some all nighters if we want to get to California faster."

"I don't care how fast we get there." Stan declared as he made his way carefully back to his seat, shoving a bottle of bud into Kyle's lap.

"Yeah," Kenny nodded and reached blindly into the back seat until he grabbed a hold of the atlas. "California is west, that's all that I need to know." Kenny yanked the book out of Kyle's hands and immediately chucked it out his window. "I say we fuck da map."

"Shit, dude!" Kyle exclaimed, jumping forward and nearly knocking Kenny out of his seat. The blond simply laughed as Kyle scowled in frustration. "Great! I hope we get fucking lost now, you douche bag."

"Kyle, I'm pretty sure that if we just go west, we'll end up right where we need to be." Kenny reasoned, shrugging indifferently as he shoved at Kyle's face again, trying to keep him out of the front.

"Kyle, just relax. And drink up." Stan advised, pointing to Kyle's unopened bottle with his own.

Kyle was distracted by the bottle in Stan's hand as he leaned towards him and squinted at the label. "Dude, more fucking wine coolers?"

Kenny and Cartman both turned in their seats and burst out in laughter at Stan's red face. "So what?"

"How many of those did they fucking buy?" Kenny questioned, chuckling as he turned back around and focused on the road.

"They must have known Stan's a fuckin' pussy that can't hold his liquor." Cartman commented, smirking at the black haired teen.

"Shut the fuck up, guys. I'll drink whatever the fuck I want, okay?" Stan declared, glaring as he chugged down the rest of his bottle and disappeared into the back to get another.

Kyle twisted the cap off his bottle of beer and leaned back in his seat. He took a deep breathe, trying his best to relax and not think about everything that could go wrong at any moment. Kyle let his eyes wander around the interior of the car, realizing for the first time that it wasn't that bad. The floor was dirty, you could see where it was worn through by people's feet, and the felt ceiling was sagging a little, but it wasn't in bad condition. Kyle wondered if his uncle had fixed it up before giving it to him.

"I'm bored." Cartman declared suddenly, breaking the short silence that had fallen over the four.

"Already? Shit, dude, we've got a long ways to go; you'd better find a way to entertain yourself." Kenny suggested, keeping his eyes on the road as he merged onto the freeway.

"Get me something to drink." Cartman demanded of Stan.

"What do you want?"

"Surprise me." Cartman responded, his voice dull.

Stan stood up and reached into the back, pulling out the first thing he wrapped his hand around.

"Here."

"We should play a game." Cartman suggested as he took the bottle of vodka from Stan.

"What game?" Kyle questioned, sounding skeptical.

"I don't know, does anyone know any good road games?"

"Road games?" Stan asked confusedly.

"Yeah, like games you play when you're driving for a long time." Cartman explained before taking a drink of his vodka.

"I have an idea!" Kenny announced, his eyes lighting on the bottle in Cartman's hand.

"What?" Cartman asked hesitantly.

"We should play a drinking game."

Kyle let out an involuntarily laugh. "How?"

"How about every time we see one of those stupid customized licenses plates we drink?" Kenny suggested.

"Yeah!" Stan agreed. "And every time we get people in a car to flip us off or do something stupid, we drink."

"Okay, let's start now." Kenny sped up immediately until he was right next to the car in the other lane. "Roll down your windows."

Stan, Kyle and Cartman rolled down their windows as Kenny stuck his head out of the van and started yelling at the car beside them. The young girl in the passenger's seat turned to look at him with an annoyed expression on her face. She turned to her dad in the driver's seat just as the other three started joining Kenny in yelling out their windows like idiots. The dad shook his head and sped up to get away from them.

Stan and Kyle sat back in their seats, looking dejected.

"He didn't do anything worth drinking to." Stan commented, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah," Kenny agreed, pointing out his window. "But check out his license plate."

Stan pressed his forehead against the glass pane and burst out into laughter. "Fuck yes!" He shouted before taking a drink.

"What? Let me see!" Kyle exclaimed as he clamored across the small divide between their seats and leaned over Stan. The license plate read GR8DAD. Kyle chuckled and took a drink of his beer.

"Hey, there's another one!" Cartman informed, pointing through the windshield a few cars away. They all drank when they saw a license plate that said HOT1.

Kenny pulled up next to another car and started yelling again. This time they pissed off a couple in a minivan, and they flipped them off. Kenny whooped as the rest of them drank again.

* * *

"Guys, we should really find someplace to stop for the night." Kyle suggested as he toppled out of his seat and onto the floor for no apparent reason. "Shit! Stop driving so crazy, Kenny!"

"I'm not drivin'." Kenny replied from beside him.

"Tha fuck?" Kyle squinted at Kenny, his vision blurry from the alcohol he'd consumed over the past eight hours. Apparently it was finally catching up to him. "When did ya get back here?"

Kenny shrugged. "Dunno. But Stan's drivin'."

"S' right, Kyle." Stan replied from the driver's seat. Kyle gave his friend a concerned look. "Don't worry, Kyle. I'm not that bad right now." Stan reassured as he swerved dangerously into the other lane.

"I think Kyle's right though, Stan. We should find a place to stay fer tha night." Kenny suggested as he held onto Kyle's head, which had fallen into his chest.

"Right." Stan nodded. "I'll pull off at the next exit."

"Make sure it's a town," Cartman spoke up, his voice sounding tired and heavily slurred. "I'm gunna want some fuckin' food in tha morning."

Kenny chuckled to himself as Kyle crawled back into his seat. "I can't believe no one thought to bring food to fuel tha fat ass."

"Ay, fuck you, Kenny." Cartman retorted half-heartedly.

"Whatsa matter, Cartman?" Kyle slurred, kicking the back of the brunette's seat.

"I'm fuckin' drunk, ya stupid ginger." Cartman shot back, turning his head lazily to try and look behind him.

"Really?" Kyle questioned, sounding interested. "I've never seen you _drunk _a'fore."

"Well, I've been drinkin' all god damn day," Cartman slurred, letting his head fall back against his seat. "I guess it was bound ta happen."

"Hey!" Stan interrupted loudly as his headlights lit up an exit sign. "There's a town comin' up."

"Good, how far is it?" Kenny questioned, sticking his head up to the front so he could talk to Stan easier.

"Only like five miles." Stan responded, reading the sign slowly and not paying attention to the road. The sign looked like it had been standing since before America was colonized, making it very difficult to read. "It's called… Bakersville?"

"Looks like it." Kenny shrugged and sat back in his seat.

"Where're we suppose ta stay when we get there?" Kyle asked, rubbing his eyes to try and stay awake.

"We could always jus' pull into an empty parkin' lot." Kenny proposed.

"No fuckin' way," Cartman shook his head, attempting to turn in his seat to look back at Kenny but only succeeding in nearly banging his head on his window. "I'm sleepin' in a fuckin' bed, okay?"

"What does it matter to you, anyway?" Stan questioned, giving the brunette a sidelong glance. "Yer fuckin' wasted. You could probably pass out right now and not wake up for a good twelve hours."

"I need my mandatories!" Cartman exclaimed, sounding agitated.

"Is that even a word?" Kyle questioned, giggling to himself.

"You know wha' I meant, asshole." Cartman retorted, somehow managing to put a 'sh' in _asshole. _"I'll pay fer my own fuckin' room if I haveta, and you guys can sleep in the alley fer all I care."

"Such a good friend." Kenny smiled sarcastically and reached forward to pat one of Cartman's broad shoulders.

"Here's the exit!" Stan announced happily as he swerved off the freeway. A long curve in the road let them to a crappy stoplight and then emerged into a dinky down town area. The buildings were all emaciated and the streets were covered in huge pot holes and deep cracks. But the worst part was the familiarity of it. It had the same kind of small town feel as South Park, making the boys wonder if they were really that far from their hick town.

* * *

**A/N: **So, I think my favorite part of this chapter was the beginning, where they're eating pancakes at Cartman's XD I dunno why, I just thought it was kinda cute. Oh, and road drinking games should definitely catch on after this^^ Haha, not sure if that's actually a real thing, but it might be kinda fun?

Anyway, let me know what you thought, I love your guys' reviews^^


	7. Black or White?

**A/N: **I know, this is like my shortest chap yet, and I feel really bad but there are some things coming up that will prevent me from uploading a new chapter for a while, so I wanted to get this one out quick insteado of making you all wait for it! Wasn't that nice? So go easy on this chapter, guys. It's definitely not my favorite, but it has some cute parts that I liked :)

Oh, not sure if I have to do this, but I certainly don't own Dolly Parton or anything affiliated with her...

Love your review, keep 'em coming:)  
ENJOY!

* * *

"God, it's like one of those old fuckin'… ghost towns. Ya know, in those old movies… with the cowboys." Cartman murmured under his breathe, ignored by everyone else, as they drove slowly along the main street of Bakersville.

There weren't many people out, even though it was only about ten at night, and the few that were definitely didn't look very approachable. They made it through the small down town area in about five minutes without finding anything that looked like a motel, and started driving aimlessly through the housing complexes.

"Here, here!" Kenny exclaimed suddenly, gesturing out the window. "Just pull over n' ask these guys if they know where we could stay!"

Stan nodded and slowed down, coming to a stop near a group of teenagers that were sitting around a bonfire. He rolled down his window, and one of the bolder guys stood up and took a few steps towards them.

"What's up, man?" The guy asked, keeping a good distance away.

"Hey! We're just wonderin' if this town's got any place we could stay for the night?" Stan explained, trying his best not to act drunk.

"Oh, yeah man." They guy shrugged and walked a bit closer to give directions. "There's no place downtown, but I know a some'ne who runs a sorta bed and breakfast type thing. Lives just two blocks over, on King St."

"Great, thanks man." Stan smiled gratefully at the young looking kid. "Do you know the address?"

"Uhm," the kid paused for a moment. "No. But I think there's a sign out front that says something. And it's a red house, kinda big. You shouldn't miss it."

"All right, well thanks fer the help!" Stan waved shortly as he drove away. "What do you guys think?" He asked the other three as he rolled his window back up.

"Sounds fuckin' peachy." Cartman spoke up, managing to sound tired and sarcastic all at once. "We jus' stop in this hick-ass town and go to some random hick-ass's house ta sleep? Tha' doesn't sound dangerous at all."

"God, do you think you could stop bein' such a drama queen for five seconds, Cartman?" Kenny questioned, sounding acutely annoyed.

"Sorry I don' wanna be butt fucked by some hillbilly." Cartman scoffed, crossing his arms defensively over his chest.

"Hey, guys, you think this is it?" Stan interrupted, pointing to a redish house with a small sign near the front door that none of them could make out.

"Only one way to find out." Kenny declared, jumping out of the car before anyone could stop him. He jogged up the sidewalk as Stan parked the van.

"He's fuckin' crazy." Stan shook his head, but smiled in amusement at his blond haired friend as he rang the door bell.

Kyle, Stan and Cartman made their way out of the car and stumbled up to the front step where Kenny was still waiting. He rang the doorbell again, and this time a light flicked on in one of the second floor rooms.

"Looks like someone's home!" Kenny sang, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Apparently being cooped up in a van all day had left him with some pent up energy.

"Hey, dude." Kyle whispered, barely suppressing his laughter as he elbowed Stan in the side.

"What?"

Kyle pointed down at the door mat they were standing on, pressing his hand firmly over his mouth. Stan groaned and let out a chuckle. The door mat said, in simple, bold font; COME BACK WITH A WARRANT.

"This is going to be really fun." Stan stated, sighing as he ran a hand through his dark hair. Kyle could only nod and laugh in incoherency.

"Hey," Kenny interrupted with a faux pout of his face. "It's that kind of tacky endearment that makes our hometown so… cozy and inviting."

The four of them broke out into laughter just as the front door opened, revealing a tall, pretty girl with brown hair.

"Uh, hello?" She greeted, sounding a little unsure as she hid herself somewhat behind the door.

"Oh, hi!" Kenny stepped forward and plastered a charming smile on his face. His friend's drew a collective groan at his 'smoothness'.

"Can I help you?" She asked, stepping back a little as Kenny tried to open the door further and walk right in.

"Yes," Stan started, grabbing the blond by his collar and pulling him away from the girl. "We were just passing through and someone told us we could stay here fer the night?"

"Oh, right." The girl nodded and turned her head to yell into the living room. "Joanne, there's some guests here!"

"Coming, dear, coming!" A high pitched, nasally voice came from the other room, sounding flustered.

The brown haired girl stepped aside as a rather large woman, with big bangs and an excessive amount of make up on, took her place.

"Well hello, dears!" She greeted cheerfully, reaching up a well manicured nail to fluff her hair. "Please, come in!"

She stepped back and held the screen door open as the four guys filed in, suddenly feeling like this wasn't the best idea.

"Aren't you all just little heart breakers?" Joanne exclaimed, placing a chubby hand over her large chest as her eyes wandered over them all.

The guys all shifted uncomfortably, forcing out embarrassed smiles. The pretty brunette was leaning against the door way to the kitchen, looking amused.

"Unfortunately," Joanne continued, her voice taking on a more businesslike tone. "We only have two rooms, which means there are only two beds." She gave them a suggestive wink, causing them all to look down at the ground and avoid eye contact with one another. "I'll let you all decide who's rooming with who while I go get everything set up, alrighty?"

They all gave her nods and half hearted smiles as she headed up the stairs.

Once she was well out of hearing range, Kenny spoke up. "I call roomin' with Stan!"

"Aww, fuck you, Kenny!" Kyle burst out, balling his hands into tight fists. "Stan is my best friend- you should haveta sleep with fatass!" He stated, his words slurring horribly as he leaned up against the front door to keep from falling over.

Cartman's face twisted into an angry scowl, though no one seemed to notice as Kenny continued the argument.

"You snooze, you lose, Kyle."

"This is so unfair." Kyle stated, his eyes narrowing to slits as he glared at the ground.

"God. Grow tha fuck up, Jew." Cartman scoffed, sounding agitated.

Joanne reappeared just as Kyle was about to launch himself at Cartman.

"Alright boys, would you just follow me this way?" She beckoned them towards her with a long, pink nail from the top of the stairs.

Kyle seethed silently as he stomped unsteadily up the creaky steps. He was lucky there was a wall encasing the stairway, making it easy for him to reach out and balance himself. Cartman seemed to be having just as much trouble as Kyle, while Stan and Kenny made it up with no trouble.

Joanne led them down a narrow hallway, twisting her hips much more than was necessary.

"Right over there is the bathroom," she pointed down an adjacent hallway as they walked past and stopped at the next door. "And here is the first room. Who calls dibs?"

"Me!" Kenny jumped up, his hand shooting into the air.

"Alright, dear." Joanne smiled at the blond as she opened the door, letting him and Stan walk through. "You two are just down the hall, on the right side." She informed Kyle and Cartman, motioning towards the room. "I'm in the room downstairs, and Betty is right across the hall from you two. So you all just holler if you need anything, okay?"

Kyle and Cartman made their way to the room as Joanne headed back down stairs.

"Is Betty that hot chick that answered the door?" Kyle wondered out loud, not really paying much attention to what he was saying.

"Think so." Cartman nodded as they entered their room.

"We should totally, like, sneak into her room tonight." Kyle suggested as he staggered over to the bed and sat down.

"What the fuck for?"

"I dunno," Kyle hiccupped loudly and groaned. "Cause she's hot?"

"Is tha' how you woo people, Kahl? By sneaking inta their rooms?" Cartman laughed as he sat down next to the red head.

"Yer tha one that sneaks inta peoples's rooms." Kyle accused, giving the larger teen a shove.

"Ay! I haven't done that in, like… a while."

"You still do tha'? I was jus' kiddin'." Kyle laughed loudly, nearly falling off the bed. "Wait, tha's kinda creepy." Kyle gasped out as his laughter died, giving Cartman a funny look. "You still sneak into my room at night?"

"No!" Cartman scoffed, giving Kyle a shove. His was a little more forceful than Kyle's though, and he knocked the red head onto the floor.

"You are such a fuck." Kyle accused as he got up slowly, clutching onto the side of the bed.

"I think I needa jus' sleeeep this off." Cartman declared, ignoring Kyle's angry glares as he wriggled under the covers. "Come on," he patted the other side of the bed, his face buried into a pillow. "You too."

Kyle simply stood at the edge of the bed for a moment before a dopey smiled formed across his face. His shook his head roughly and crawled across the bed, opting to sleep on top of the covers.

* * *

Cartman woke up to the sound of someone's annoying as fuck ring tone that seemed to be playing on repeat for hours. He opened his eyes to a cloud of bushy red hair obscuring his vision, soon replaced by pair of wide, emerald green eyes.

Cartman blinked several times before scowling. "Shut your fuckin' phone up."

Kyle continued to stare at him before slowly getting out of bed and grabbing his phone from off the floor. Cartman watched as he flipped it open and looked at his missed calls, a deep frown forming on his face as he scrolled through them.

Cartman didn't really care, so he blamed his questioning on his surely horrible hangover. "Who was it?"

Kyle snapped his phone shut, but continued to stare at it. "No one."

"Bullshit." Cartman declared, sitting up in the bed and letting the warm covers fall off of him.

"Cartman, not now, okay?" Kyle pleaded, his face open and vulnerable.

Cartman swallowed loudly as he was immediately reminded of the night in his car. He nodded and looked down as he got out of bed, hating himself for being unable to refuse him right then.

Kyle watched in slight shock as Cartman brushed past him and made his way into the hall. Kenny entered the room immediately after him, giving Cartman a weird look as he passed.

"What's up with him?" The blond questioned as he stood in the doorway.

"I have no idea."

"Well, that hot chick just came into my room and said she made breakfast for us, want some?"

Kyle nodded and followed after Kenny as they made their way downstairs. The closer they got to the kitchen, the more aware they became of some kind of argument going on.

"Because I'm not fucking hungry, bitch!"

"Well now, there's no reason to use that kind of language, young man!"

"Whatever, hoe. I'll talk how I want."

Kenny and Kyle walked cautiously into the kitchen and starred with wide eyes as Cartman stood up forcefully from his chair, sending it flying into the wall behind him.

"What the hell are you two faggots looking at?" He demanded as he pushed through them and stormed outside.

The entire house seemed to have gone painfully silent in the few moments after the loud slam of the front door. Kyle finally broke it though, when his curiosity got the better of him.

"What was that all about?" He questioned Stan, who was sitting next to the spot previously occupied by Cartman.

"I don't know." He shook his head in disbelief and blinked several times at the empty chair beside him. "He just… freaked out over nothing."

"For god's sake." Kyle spat out, suddenly overcome with anger for the brunette. He had to ruin everything they did, didn't he? "I'm so sorry." He apologized to Joanne and Betty, who was cowering slightly next to the sink.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie." She reassured, clomping across the linoleum floor to lay some more plates of food on the table. "We know how to deal with rude folks 'round here."

And, just like that, the tense atmosphere was broken. Stan went back to eating his scrambled eggs and talking with Betty, and Joanne went back to finishing the cooking.

"Why don't you go talk to Cartman?" Kenny suggested quietly as they continued to stand in the doorway.

"What?" Kyle yelled a little too loudly, earning a strange glance from the occupants of the room.

"Come on, some one has to calm him down or he's going to be an up-tight little bitch the rest of the day!" Kenny persuaded, almost desperately.

"And how am I supposed to help him calm down?" Kyle questioned, giving his friend an incredulous look. "I'm not exactly the most soothing person to him."

"I have a feeling you do better than you think." Kenny responded mischievously, giving Kyle a small smile.

Kyle gave the blond an odd look as he sat in the empty spot next to Stan and joined in on his conversation. Kyle really didn't want to go get bitched out by Cartman for some stupid reason or another, but he knew that Kenny was right. If someone didn't do something, Cartman would be worse than a woman going through menopause for the rest of the day. Hell, maybe even the next few days. So he went against the alarms his own self-preservation set off, and made his way outside.

"So," Kenny started, looking over his shoulder to make sure Kyle was gone. "What really happened to piss Cartman off?"

Stan smiled and shook his head. "Betty," he motioned towards the brunette girl and Kenny winked at her in recognition. "Was asking me about Kyle."

"I think he's cute." Betty shrugged as she explained herself.

"And I guess Cartman was listening in on our conversation, because Joanne was trying to offer him more food, but he wasn't responding. When she finally got through to him, well, you saw that part."

"So he was upset because you were asking about Kyle?" Kenny questioned, looking slightly confused. Betty nodded.

"I think we were right, Kenny. About what you said before about Cartman and Kyle." Stan declared, giving the blond a meaningful look.

"Dude, I think so too."

* * *

Cartman was leaning against a tree in the front yard, smoking a cigarette. He scowled in irritation when Kyle came to stand in front of him, one hand placed on his hip like some fucking girl.

"What do you want, asshole?"

"I just came to see what crawled up your ass." Kyle responded, crossing his arms as he waited for an answer.

"Oho! I guess I'm expected to spill my heart out to you, and then we'll hug like good friends should. Maybe after we can do each others nails." Cartman scoffed to himself as he took a drag.

"Maybe you could just tell me what pissed you off?" Kyle suggested, letting Cartman's callous attitude bounce off him.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does."

"Why?"

"Because, dude… we're friends. Friends tell each other why they freaked out in some Dolly Parton look-a-like's kitchen!" Kyle responded, throwing up his hands for emphasis.

Cartman's face twisted into a reluctant smile as he took in Kyle's flustered appearance. He quickly masked it as a scowl before Kyle noticed. "Let's just say I'm sick of this fucking town, and all of the backwards fucking hillbillies that live here."

"What do you mean?"

"I think I made myself pretty clear." Cartman declared, giving Kyle a strange look.

"No, I mean, how can you have already judged the people here? We only got here last night."

"Those two," Cartman motioned back towards the house. "Are good enough spokespeople for the rest of the town, I'm sure."

Kyle shook his head as he grabbed the cigarette from Cartman's hand. "You could at least give them a chance."

"Kyle, we just came from a town filled with idiots just like this one. I've been giving those people a chance my entire life- no one has done anything to break from their own stereotypes."

Kyle smiled as he took a drag, letting the smoke out as he talked. "Some people are shades of grey, Cartman. Not everyone is black or white."

"Yeah, but most are." Cartman stated, a small smirk on his face as he snatched his cigarette back.

"So, are you okay to come back in now?"

"Only if you promise not to talk about Dolly Parton in the same sentence as that hoe." Cartman declared, an undeniable smile creeping onto his face again.

"What, does Dolly Parton not do her justice?" Kyle joked back as they made their way back to the house.

"Fuck no, _she _doesn't do Dolly Parton justice." Cartman replied, giving Kyle a sly look as he gaped at him.

Kyle started laughing. "That's fucking gross, dude. You think Dolly Parton is hot?"

"Fuck yeah, dude." Kyle laughed harder when Cartman made a motion in front of his chest and mouthed 'huge rack.'

"Oh Jesus." Kyle chuckled as he reached forward to open the front door, letting Cartman step in ahead of him.

"Well, well, well." Kenny cocked an eye brow as he took in Kyle's broad smile and how Cartman seemed completely relaxed. A complete one-eighty from his mood just ten minutes ago. "Looks like your little talk went well."

"Fuck off, Kenny." And the scowl was back.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry if my editing was super crappy on this chapter, I finished it up super fast.

I don't know about you guys, but my favorite part was when Kyle and Cartman were talking in the yard:)

Oh, and who's been calling Kyle? Guess you'll have to wait and find out!:)


	8. Planning

**A/N: **Words cannot express how sorry I am about how long it took to get this chapter out! I started on Reset and it's been so fun to write that I've been neglecting this story just a bit. But I promise you that I will work on getting my chapters out quicker because this wait was ridiculous! Also, it's not very long, but after I re-read this chapter before posting it I realiZed that I kind of like it. Not a whole lot happens, but, I don't know, I just liked it^^ This story is so much fun to write anyways, there's not many chapters I haven't enjoyed so far.

So, I hope you enjoy my long over due update! THANKS^^

Also, uh, disclaimer: I do not own Moulin Rouge... or Inglorious Basterds

* * *

The guys spent the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon at Joanne's bed and breakfast. They used her facilities and hospitality to their advantage, making sure they were all well fed and cleaned up before taking off again. Luckily, Betty had disappeared after breakfast, leaving the rest of the day tension free as the guys prepared to leave.

"Ya'll have a safe trip, okay?" Joanne drawled as she wrapped them each up into an unnecessary embrace.

"We will," Kyle reassured as he handed over the money they owed for the night. "Thanks for letting us stay."

"It was no problem, darlin'." Joanne waved a well manicured hand in dismissal as Kenny opened the front door and everyone followed him outside. "Bye now!"

"Later, hoe!" Cartman threw up his middle finger into the air as he walked across the lawn. He brought his arm down only to shove Kyle away when he started nudging him in the ribs, provoking him to stop.

Kyle laughed slightly as he stumbled away from the larger boy, earning strange looks from Stan and Kenny.

"You two sure are a lot more… friendly." Kenny observed as he hopped into the passenger seat of the van.

Kyle shrugged as he turned the ignition and the car rumbled to life. "I'm just happy to be leaving."

"Yeah," Cartman spoke up from the back. "It's about time we got out of this god damned town."

Kenny only hesitated slightly before nodding his own agreement. He decided to let the fact that they had both worked together to completely change the subject slide- this time. Any more of their strange friendliness though, and he was afraid that he might not be able to handle it. Kyle and Cartman's constant bickering was something he had grown too accustomed to over the past eighteen years- if they started being nice to each other then he'd have to completely reevaluate everything in his life.

They had only been driving about an hour when Kyle noticed a large sign indicating that they were leaving Colorado and entering Utah.

"Thank god we're going the right way." Kyle mumbled to himself, shooting a glare at Kenny.

"You obviously never had anything to worry about then, right?" Kenny smirked at his friend and dodged a poorly aimed punch. "You should be thanking me for throwing that stupid map out, not trying to kill me!"

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Just don't come crying to me when we get ourselves lost."

"I'm not even worried," Kenny declared, pulling a smug face. "I have an excellent sense of direction."

"You got lost walking home from school last year, fucktard!" Cartman exclaimed from the back seat, reaching forward to shove his friend's shoulder. "You called me nearly in tears, freaking out because you'd ended up near Branson's farm."

"Okay, that doesn't count!"

"Why not?"

"Because I had gotten high after school! You can't expect me to know where the fuck I am after I've smoked."

"That still doesn't explain why you cried, pussy."

Kenny stiffened and stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "I'm a very emotional smoker."

"Bullshit." Cartman scoffed, smirking at the back of Kenny's seat.

"Well Jesus, Cartman, I guess that means the 'awful singing' in Moulin Rouge isn't what really made you cry, either."

"AY! Fuck you, Kenny. You know I hate lame-ass musicals!"

"Dude, the movie Moulin Rouge made you cry?" Stan spoke up, sounding both amused and disturbed.

"No!"

"Shut the fuck up, Cartman! I watched you cry like a fucking girl when Satine died." Kenny declared, turning in his seat to poke an accusatory finger at him.

"No, Kenny, I was crying because Christian couldn't suck it up like a man and tell that hoe to get bent! It was painful to watch, really."

"Why were you two watching Moulin Rouge together in the first place?" Kyle questioned. He raised his eye brows at Cartman's reflection in the rearview mirror, watching his face turn faintly pink.

"My mom got it for us by accident. I told her to get Inglorious Basterds."

"How the hell did she get that mixed up with Moulin Rouge?" Stan laughed to himself as Cartman shot him an angry glare.

"How the fuck should I know?"

Stan was about to counter back when Kyle's phone went off.

"I've got it!" Kenny exclaimed, diving forward to snatch it out of the cup holder.

"No wait!" Kyle begged, swerving on the road as he attempted to grab it back. "Kenny, don't answer that!"

"Why not?"

"Because, it's not important right now."

Kenny glanced down at the phone and sighed, placing it in Kyle's outstretched hand. "You're going to have to talk to your mom sometime."

"I know." Kyle murmured, shoving his phone into his jean pocket. "Just not right now."

"Why won't you talk to your mom, she probably just wants to make sure you're okay." Stan reasoned, leaning forward to look at his friend.

"She can wait." Kyle stated with an air of finality. No one brought it up again.

* * *

They drove on through the day, Stan and Cartman drifting in and out of sleep in the back while Kenny kept Kyle company.

"Hey, it's starting to get dark out and I'm tired of driving, should we stop at this next town?" Kyle suggested, talking quietly so he didn't wake the two sleeping in the back.

Kenny nodded. "Yeah, go ahead. I'm kind of hungry anyway; maybe we can find someplace to eat."

Kyle took the next exit and came out in a decent sized city. He drove around the down town for a while before spotting a fast food place.

"Hey, guys." Kyle glanced in the back as he parked outside the restaurant. "Wake up!"

Kenny unbuckled his seat belt and hopped into the back, landing on top of Stan.

"Ah! What the fuck, dude?" Stan yelled, causing Cartman to jolt awake.

"What is going _on?_" The brunette grumbled, glaring at Stan and Kenny.

"You guys have done nothing but sleep the entire fucking day," Kenny pointed out, rolling his eyes at both of them. "Do you want to eat something, or not?"

"_Yes_." Stan exclaimed, holding his stomach as it rumbled loudly.

"Then let's go." Kyle declared, stepping out of the van.

The rest followed after him, practically drooling as they stepped inside and were hit with the distinct smell of things being fried.

"Let's get our food and walk around for a bit." Kenny suggested as they got in line. "I'm getting fucking sick of being shut up in that van all day."

"Yeah, okay." Kyle nodded in agreement.

Once they all had their food they stepped outside and Kenny took off running, an excited look on his face.

"Kenny, wait!" Kyle demanded, but the blond was already half way down the street.

"Meet you back here in an hour!" Kenny yelled back before disappearing around the corner, a cheeseburger clutched tightly in one hand.

"I swear if he's not back here in _exactly _one hour, I'm leaving without him!" Kyle declared, glaring angrily down the street.

"He'll be back, don't worry." Stan promised, turning to walk the opposite way.

"I know. I just feel like we should all stick together for right now. Besides, it's getting dark out and we need to find a place to stay tonight."

"I'm sure there's a motel somewhere here." Cartman spoke up through a mouthful of food.

"Yeah, let's look for a place now and then when we meet Kenny we can just go back there." Stan suggested, taking a sip out of his fountain drink.

They had only walked about two blocks when they came across what they were looking for. Kyle checked them all in while Stan and Cartman took advantage of the computers in the lobby.

"God, I never thought I would miss the fucking internet." Cartman commented as he scrolled down the main page on his facebook.

"Same." Stan agreed.

"You guys can go to the room if you want," Kyle announced, coming up from behind them and handing Stan an electronic key. "I'm going to go meet Kenny."

"Kay." Stan nodded, his eyes never leaving the computer screen as he took the key.

Kyle sighed at their state of unawareness and made his way back outside. He was surprised to find Kenny already waiting for him at the van, especially since he still had fifteen minutes before his hour was up.

"Hey, man. You're early." Kyle stated as he came to stand next to him.

"Yeah, I already found everything I need." Kenny declared, a sly smile on his face. "Where are Cartman and Stan?"

"At the motel we're staying at tonight. What do you mean you 'found everything you need'?"

Kenny's smile grew by a few centimeters as he pulled a sack from behind his back and reached into it.

"I bought a disco ball." He announced, grinning like a maniac as he held it out to the red head.

Kyle laughed as he took it from him, holding it up to examine it. It was one of the newer kinds that were black, but had multi-colored dots that lit up all over it.

"This is great, dude!" Kyle exclaimed, handing it back to him.

"I know. But the second thing I bought is _way _better." He paused for dramatic effect before reaching into the bag again and pulling out what looked like a fancy pot.

"What, a vase?"

"No, no Kyle. It's a bong."

"Oh my god!" Kyle whispered harshly, jerking forward to try and shove it back into the bag. "Put that away!"

"Dude, calm down. You can't get busted for having a bong. You can only get busted for _using _one." Kenny explained, pushing the nervous red head away from him.

"Oh yeah, and I'm sure you just wanted one to decorate the van! You know very well that you plan on using that."

"Hey, the cops don't have to know that." Kenny declared, shrugging in nonchalance.

"Let's just get back to the motel."

"Kay, you drive." Kenny said, gently setting his bong back in its bag and hopping into the passenger's seat.

Kyle sighed and stepped into the car, shoving the keys into the ignition. He nearly winced at the loud sounds of the motor, and looked down when he noticed that several people had turned to stare at the noise.

It only took five minutes to drive to the motel and they found Cartman and Stan still sitting on the computers.

"Dude, they have internet here?" Kenny exclaimed when he saw them, rushing towards an empty chair.

"Yeah, man." Stan responded, looking away from his online game to greet Kenny. "Where did you go?"

"This retro hippie head shop. I bought a disco ball and a bong."

"Dude, sweet."

"Guys, can we seriously just go to our room?" Kyle questioned, sounding frustrated. "It's dark out and I want to get to bed early so we can wake up at a decent time tomorrow. I'd like to make it to Nevada before it gets dark tomorrow."

"Jeez Kyle, you go ahead." Cartman spoke up, eyes fixated on his computer screen. "Maybe you can wash that sand out of your vagina while you're at it."

"I DO NOT-"

"Okay, okay!" Stan jumped up from his chair, silencing Kyle. "Let's just go."

Kyle shot one last glare at Cartman before stomping off in the direction of their room.

Kenny breathed a sigh of relief, unnoticed by Cartman who was still engrossed in his computer. Stan caught his eye though as they started walking a ways behind Kyle.

"I was just thinking earlier today," Kenny began, making sure to keep his voice down so Kyle could hear. "When Kyle and Cartman were all abnormally friendly, how weird it would be if they were like that all the time."

Stan laughed quietly. "I don't think you ever have to worry about that. Even if they… well, I have a feeling they would still always get on each others nerves. They've been like that too long for it to just change."

"Yeah, you're right." Kenny agreed, sounding relieved.

"It would be weird, though." Stan mused, a far away look on his face.

"I think this is the room." Kyle announced from where he was stopped down the hall, starring at the number on the door. "143, right?"

Stan glanced down at the electronic key card and nodded. "Yeah."

"Cartman didn't come?" Kyle questioned as Stan and Kenny caught up with him.

"No, he can't get his fat ass out of that chair." Kenny stated, stepping back so Stan could unlock the door.

Kyle fixed his gaze at the carpeted floor and mumbled something that sounded like 'not that fat', but Kenny decided to pretend like he hadn't heard him.

"This is kind of nice." Stan declared as he stepped inside their room. "Definitely better than that bed and breakfast."

The room had two queen sized beds against one wall and a TV against the opposite. A small chair was pushed up in the left corner, next to a mini fridge, and the bathroom was directly to the right when they walked in.

"So what time did you want to be up by in the morning, Kyle?" Stan asked as he jumped onto a bed.

"Probably around nine. I'm hoping we'll cross the Nevada border around six tomorrow."

"We're going to be in Nevada tomorrow night?" Kenny questioned, looking up at Kyle with interest.

"Yeah, if we get going in the morning."

"Vegas is fairly close to California, is it not?" Kenny continued, a cunning smile spread across his face.

"Uh, yeah I guess so."

"Dude, we should totally go to fucking Las Vegas!" Kenny nearly exploded, a wild look on his face.

"I don't know, Kenny." Kyle started, looking apprehensive. "Remember, I don't even have a map. I have no idea how to get there without one."

"I'm sure we could ask someone here tomorrow." Kenny resolved, a pleading tone to his voice.

"Dude, I'm totally with Kenny on this one." Stan spoke up, an excited look on his face.

"Seriously?" Kyle gave his friend an incredulous look. "You realize there will be partying in Las Vegas, right? The last time I checked you're not very big on parties."

"Not lame-ass high school parties, but an all-nighter in a casino sounds fucking awesome." Stan declared, sitting up on his knees in anticipation.

"Well, I have been wanting to go to a casino since I turned eighteen…" Kyle paused as he thought it over. How many chances was he going to get to go to Vegas in his life? After this he was going to be off to college and there was no way he'd have an opportunity then. "All right, let's do it."

"Yes!" Kenny shouted, jumping up and tackling Kyle to the ground.

"What the fuck is going on?" A dull voice interrupted them from the door way.

"We're going to fucking Vegas, Cartman!" Kenny explained, hopping up to wrestle the brunette into a hug.

"Really?" Cartman questioned, sounding skeptical. Kenny nodded his head in affirmation. "Kahl's seriously letting us detour in Vegas?"

"Yeah man, isn't that awesome!" Stan confirmed, his face bright with excitement.

"I didn't know the tight-ass Jew had it in him to have a little fun." Cartman commented, smirking at Kyle from over Kenny's shoulder.

"Shut up, Cartman, I can be plenty of fun." Kyle stated firmly. "Now come on, let's get to bed."

"Oh yeah, you're a fucking ball of fire, Broflovski." Cartman muttered as Kyle flicked off the lights.

* * *

**A/N: **So, I don't know if you guys have noticed or not but I love to hear what my readers favorite part of the chapter was^^

This time, for me, it was when Cartman and Kenny were fighting and Kenny told everyone Cartman cried watching Moulin Rouge :)

Don't feel bad, I cried too^^

Anyways, leave a quick review, and for those of you that are also following Reset, I should have the next chapter out in the next week or so!


	9. Vegas

**A/N: **AHHH, I feel like it's been forever since I've updated! I am sooo sorry, but I hope that this chapter will make up for it :) It is definitely one of my favorites so far.

I hope you guys are ready for tons of Kyle/Cartman interaction^^

ENJOY!

Oh, and disclaimer: I don't own the song 'waking up in vegas'

* * *

"Wake up, wake up, _wake up_!" An irate Kyle Broflovski yelled, standing over Cartman's sleeping body. "I swear to _god_ if you don't get your fat ass out of bed _right now_-"

He was silenced as Cartman's hand shot up, clamping onto a freckled arm that was flailing through the air in agitation.

"_I'm awake._" He ground out, eyes sliding open.

"Well, good." Kyle yanked his arm away from Cartman and took a step back. "Now hurry up and get ready, it's already forty five minutes past nine."

Once Cartman had finished getting dressed, moving as slow as humanly possible for the sole purpose of annoying Kyle, they all piled back into the van.

"Okay, so I asked directions while fat ass was still sleeping," Kyle paused here to glare at Cartman in his rearview mirror. "And it sounds like all we have to do is take the interstate south and follow the road signs."

"Right," Kenny nodded from his spot in the passenger's seat. "So you didn't need that map after all?"

"Shut up about the fucking map, Kenny." Kyle demanded in a monotone voice. For some reason he was feeling extremely crabby today. Probably had something to do with the fact that the fat ass overslept by forty five fucking minutes. Or the fact that he didn't have a fucking map to tell him where to go. Or the fact that he seemed to be the only one who cared if they ended up lost. Or how about the fact that his mom wouldn't stop calling him? Yeah, that probably had something to do with it.

"I have to put up the disco ball!" Kenny exclaimed, suddenly remembering what he had purchased the day before.

"Dude, that thing is awesome." Stan commented as Kenny pulled it out of the bag and crawled into the large, open space in the back.

"There's so much room back here." Kenny observed as he suctioned the disco ball to ceiling of the van. "We should definitely start sleeping back here. It would save a ton of money."

"I'm not sleeping in the fucking hippie van." Cartman stated firmly, crossing his arms in defiance. "I barely agreed to riding around in it."

"Well then you can just sleep in the fucking road." Kyle spat out, clutching the steering wheel tightly. "Nobody fucking cares if you want to sleep here or not, douche bag. We aren't here to cater to your every desire like your mom."

"Ay! Don't bring my mom into this, Jew."

"Why the fuck not? It's her fault you're such a spoiled little pussy."

"I am not a pussy, Kahl. And I'm not spoiled! You're the fucking spoiled one."

"Why, because my family has money? You're mom has hardly any fucking money and you still get everything you want!"

"That's not true." Cartman replied, his voice unusually quiet and hurt.

"What? Did she not buy you some ridiculously expensive video game you wanted one time?"

"Just shut up, Kyle." Cartman practically whispered, looking down to hide his face in the fringe of his bangs.

"Oh, what's wrong? Did I strike a nerve?" Kyle nearly cackled, not noticing the looks Kenny and Stan were giving him.

"Dude, Kyle. That's enough." Stan spoke up, catching his friend's eye in the rearview mirror.

Kyle faltered for a minute, glancing at Cartman's hunched over figure. What had he said to upset him so much? They had had worse fights than that before and Cartman never acted that way. And had Cartman actually said his name without that annoying accent?

Kyle decided it was time to keep his mouth shut. At least for a little while.

* * *

Somewhere along the road, Kenny proposed the brilliant idea of trying out his new bong. Kyle refused since he was driving; stating that driving when he was high always made him super paranoid.

Cartman, Stan, and Kenny all migrated to the very back then, to sit on the shag carpet and smoke. Cartman surprisingly didn't make any comments about what a 'hippie situation' he was in.

"Dude, you weren't fucking kidding when you said you took your dad's stash." Stan said, his eyes growing wide at the baggie Kenny had pulled out of his suitcase.

"I know, right? You should have seen him, though. He was so fucking pissed."

"No shit, that's like eighty dollars worth of weed."

"Actually, it's a half ounce. So it's more like a hundred dollars worth of weed." Kenny corrected, smiling cockily as he held the baggie up to the light.

"Whatever, dude. Are we going to do this or not?" Cartman spoke up, running a tired hand through his mousy brown hair.

"Yeah, man." Kenny pulled out a bud and packed it into the bowl. "Go ahead."

It wasn't long before the entire van was filled with smoke, and Kyle had to open the windows for fear of getting a contact high. When the three of them were finished, Kenny set the bong in the back corner of the van and flicked on the disco ball.

"Holy fuck, that thing is so cool!" Stan exclaimed, reaching up a hand from his position on the floor to try and touch the dancing lights.

"I know, dude. Give me props, right?" Kenny chuckled as he gazed up at the multi-colored lights flashing across the ceiling.

"Oooh, you know what we should do!" Stan sat straight up, his eyes wide. "We should get a fucking black light for the van. Wouldn't that be fucking awesome?"

"That would be fucking tight, man!" Kenny agreed, laughing. "Kyle! Kyle!"

"What?" Came Kyle's voice from the very front of the van.

"Holy shit, he sounds so far away." Stan murmured.

"We should stop somewhere and look for a black light!" Kenny yelled back.

"What the fuck? We're not stopping somewhere to look for a black light; I want to get to Las Vegas by nightfall."

"Oh, Kyle." Kenny shook his head in pity. "Always the worrier. It's time for you to let go, man! This is your last fucking chance to have a good time, and you're still trying to run it like it's a strict schedule your mom set up."

"Oh my god, you're your mother!" Stan gasped out, his eyes widening in shock.

Kyle sputtered for a minute, nearly swerving off the road. "I am _not _my mother!"

"Yes you are dude!" Stan argued, crawling across the floor so that he was right next to Kyle's seat. "You might not be as extreme as her yet, but you're heading down the same path!"

"I will _never _be like my mother!" Kyle shrieked, his face turning red. "Now get the fuck away from me before I crash this fucking van!"

"Sounds like his mom." Kenny sang under his breath as Stan crawled back to their small circle.

"Shut up, Kenny!"

"How the fuck did he hear that?" Kenny exclaimed, glaring at the back of Kyle's seat.

"You're like ten feet away from me, douche bag."

"Right, so if we're not going to stop and get a black light could we at least get some food?"

"I guess I could drive through somewhere." Kyle grudgingly agreed.

A loud chorus of "YAY!" could be heard from the back.

* * *

As the day slipped by, Kenny, Cartman, and Stan smoked on and off while Kyle attempted not to fall asleep at the wheel. Kenny and Stan had offered several times to take over for Kyle, but he didn't trust any one else's sense of direction and claimed that he didn't want to end up lost.

It was just as the sun was setting when Kyle must have dozed off for a few brief seconds, because the once vacant passenger's seat was suddenly occupied by Cartman.

"Hey fat ass." Kyle greeted sleepily, too tired to throw too much emotion behind the insult.

"Stupid Jew, I'm not fat." Cartman countered halfheartedly. He pulled his feet up onto the seat so his knees were under his chin and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking about going to sleep. Why?" Cartman questioned, cracking one eye open to stare at the side of Kyle's face.

"Well," Kyle paused, glancing into his mirror to see that Stan and Kenny were sleeping in the back. He bit his lip before continuing hesitantly. "I hate driving while everyone's asleep. I get bored."

"If I stay up I'm going to smoke more."

Kyle shrugged. "I don't really care."

"You should smoke too." Cartman suggested, his voice light and conversational.

"Why?"

"Because we're going to be in Vegas soon and I bet driving into the city high is the most amazing thing ever. Think of all those neon lights."

Kyle starred blankly at the long stretch of empty road ahead of him. "I'll probably fall asleep."

"Then I'll drive."

"You don't know where to go."

Cartman rolled his eyes and pointed out the windshield. "There's a sign right-fucking-there that says the exit for Las Vegas is twenty miles away."

Kyle sighed and rubbed his temples. "All right."

The smile that broke across Cartman's face was almost terrifying. "I knew you'd give in."

Kyle clenched his jaw in annoyance. It did seem like he always fell for whatever shit Cartman threw at him. "Just go get the bong."

Cartman uncurled himself from his position in the seat and disappeared into the back. Kyle could hear him stumble and nearly fall in the darkness before he reappeared.

"Get up so I can drive." Cartman demanded as he held out the bong for Kyle to take.

"Can't you just wait until I pull over?"

"There is literally no one on the road right now. Just move over."

Kyle grumbled obscenities under his breath, and vaguely wondered why he was giving in to Cartman with barely any protest tonight, as he quickly switched spots. Cartman slid into the spot right after he stood up and took control of the van with ease. From the outside, Kyle wondered if you could even tell that they had traded places.

Cartman pulled the bag of weed from his pocket and handed it to Kyle.

"Here, pack a bowl."

Kyle huffed and took the bag from him, silently awed over the amount of weed in it. They had been smoking all day and there was still that much weed left? Holy shit. When he finished packing the bowl he opened the glove compartment and fished out a lighter.

"You want green?" He offered, holding the bong and lighter out to Cartman.

He took it without a word and lit it quickly, sucking in all of the smoke through the glass tube. Kyle took it from him and did the same. They continued until they were too high to properly work the lighter, and set the bong down in the space between their seats.

"Dude, roll down your fucking window." Kyle demanded, giggling as he cranked his window down.

Cartman complied and smiled when the harsh wind whipped his hair around his face. Kyle closed his eyes and held his arm out the window, feeling how the wind pushed on it so forcefully that it kept flying upwards.

"This feels so amazing." Kyle commented, unable to keep a smile off his face.

They kept driving for what felt like hours, until they passed a road sign, reminding Kyle that they should have exited for Las Vegas a while ago.

"Shit, Cartman, did you miss our fucking exit?"

"Uh… fuck, maybe." He admitted, trying to remember if he passed it.

"Dammit! You have to turn around, get off at this next exit!"

"Dude, calm down." Cartman laughed at Kyle's crazed expression. His eyes were wide and bright, even in the dark. "If you keep freaking out you're going to start getting paranoid."

"Don't tell me what to fucking do, Cartman! We missed our fucking exit and I have been driving all day trying to get here. I wouldn't let anyone else drive and the minute I try to trust you, you fuck it all up! All of it! Everything!"

Cartman stopped laughing and starred at Kyle with a blank expression. "You think I fuck everything up?"

Kyle paused for a minute, starring back at the brunette. "No. That's not what I said."

"Yes, it is."

"_No, _it's not, Cartman. Stop taking words out of my mouth."

"You can't take words from people's mouths, words are unobtainable."

"Stop being all philosophical and find our fucking exit!" Kyle demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and pushing his lip out in a pout.

"Why do you have to make that face?" Cartman questioned, starring at Kyle with a strange expression.

"What face?"

"When you get upset, your eyes get all wide and you stick out your lip. Like you're pouting."

Kyle gave him a confused look before he started laughing. "Dude, I don't fucking pout. Pouting is for, like, five year olds whose mom's won't buy them a toy."

"You do too pout." Cartman argued, his eye brows furrowing. "I just saw it."

"You didn't see anything."

"Fucking Jew, I did too!"

"There's our exit!" Kyle shouted, pointing out the windshield.

"Ha! So I didn't pass it!" Cartman exclaimed, sticking his tongue out at Kyle.

"Big baby."

"You're the one that pouts."

"Fuck off!"

They fell into silence as they began driving down a long stretch of road, with no sign of Vegas in sight.

"Jesus, how far is it?" Cartman complained after driving for ten more minutes.

Kyle shrugged. "Probably not too much further."

They were silent again until Kyle started singing 'Waking Up In Vegas' and Cartman joined in. Kyle laughed as Cartman tried to make his voice go as high as his and the brunette punched him playfully in the arm. Right when they finished singing they came out through a patch of trees on a hill and could see a million spinning, sparkling lights just ahead.

"Holy shit, there it is!" Kyle exclaimed, sitting up so that he was squatting in his seat, his feet digging into the upholstery.

"Dude, be quiet or you'll wake up poor boy and the hippie."

Kyle smiled and looked over at Cartman whispering, "Sorry."

Cartman shook his head, trying to hide a smirk as he watched the bright lights illuminate Kyle's wide eyes. He looked like a little kid starring up at a lit Christmas tree for the first time. Cartman bit his lip as he felt that sickeningly warm sensation shoot down his spine, the weed making it feel much more intense than usual. Suddenly he wished that Kenny and Stan weren't asleep in the back. That they weren't even with them. He had the strangest, most intense desire to be completely alone with Kyle followed by an equally intense desire to slap himself for ever thinking such a thing.

"Isn't it mind-blowing?" Kyle breathed, looking away from the lights to glance at Cartman who had been starring steadily at the side of his face. "What are you looking at?"

Cartman swallowed, his throat feeling unbearably dry as he turned to look back out the windshield. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched the steering wheel until it hurt, willing this horribly consuming sensation he was feeling to disappear. Fucking Jew.

"We're going to have to spend a shit load of money to stay the night here." Kyle spoke up, sounding worried.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Cartman blurted before he could stop himself.

"What? You can't pay for it all by yourself!"

"Yes, I can." Cartman sighed, running a hand through his hair as he slowed the car to a near stop due to all the traffic. "I brought a little extra money."

"I'm not letting you pay for it by yourself, Cartman."

"Fuck, Kyle I said I'd take care of it, now stop arguing with me." Cartman growled, glaring at the red head. Kyle shrank back in his seat and crossed his arms in a huff.

"No need to be so fucking rude."

Cartman rolled his eyes. "No need to be such a fucking Jew bitch."

"God dammit, Cartman I-"

"Alright, you two can shut the fuck up now, we're awake!" Kenny yelled groggily from the back, sounding slightly irritated.

Kyle twisted his body so he could look into the back. "Sorry guys! We didn't mean to wake you."

"Could have fooled me." Stan grumbled as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are we there already?" Kenny questioned in confusion as he looked through a dirty back window.

"Yeah, just got here like ten minutes ago. Traffic is a bitch though, so it'll probably be a while before we find a place to stay." Cartman informed, keeping his eyes focused on the road.

"Did you guys smoke?" Kenny asked, spotting the bong next to their seats.

"Uh, yeah." Kyle affirmed, grinning stupidly at the blond.

"I see," Kenny started, sounding mischievous. "You two just like to wait until the rest of us are asleep to have your fun. All these years we thought you really didn't like each other, but you're just hiding your secret friendship from us all!"

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's why we woke you up yelling at each other."

Kenny shrugged and smirked at the red head. "Even the best of friends fight sometimes."

"I promise you that Cartman and I are not the best of friends." Kyle declared with an air of finality before turning back to a normal position in his seat.

"Someone's a little touchy about the subject." Stan pointed out, concealing a smile as Kyle huffed and clenched his fists, trying his hardest to not get worked up.

After twenty more minutes of driving through traffic, they finally found a decent-looking place to stay that wouldn't drain all of the cash they had brought. It didn't look as nice as a majority of places they had passed up, but it would do for the night. Especially since it had a casino.

"Dude, thanks for paying Cartman." Kenny slapped his friend on the back as they lugged their bags to the elevator in the lobby. "Don't listen to Kyle, he just doesn't like it when other people step up and do the good deeds for him."

Kyle glared at the two as he punched the button for floor three with a little more force than was necessary. "I just don't think it's right that someone has to pay for it all. We've split the expenses for everything else so far."

"Oh please, Kyle. You just don't want to feel like your in-debt to Cartman." Stan commented, giving his friend a knowing look.

"I do not owe Cartman anything!" Kyle exclaimed, looking at Stan with wide eyes. "I tried to help pay, I really did!"

"Don't worry, Kahl." Cartman consoled, placing an arm around the red head's shoulders. "Maybe now I can finally cash in on that whole 'ball sucking' thing."

"Aw, fucking sick, dude!" Kyle yelled, ducking out from under his arm with a disgusted look on his face.

Stan and Kenny laughed as the elevator dinged, signaling they had stopped on their floor.

"Are we just going to drop all of our shit off in the room and go down to the casino?" Kenny questioned as they made their way down the carpeted hallway.

Kyle nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, it's already almost eleven."

"Oh no, not _almost eleven!_" Cartman called out sarcastically, a look of mock horror on his face. "Don't forget we have to get Kyle in bed by midnight, or he'll turn back into a giant pussy!"

Kyle rolled his eyes as they stopped in front of their hotel door, pulling out his electronic keycard. "At least I don't make gay Cinderella references."

"Cinderella is a classic." Cartman argued, a defiant look on his face.

Kyle hid a smirk as he pushed the door open, trying not to laugh.

Kenny pushed his way past Kyle, chucking his small suitcase into a corner before turning right back around. "All right, let's go!" He shouted, clapping his hands together in excitement.

Stan chuckled and gave Kyle a look. All his red headed friend could manage to do was shake his head and follow Kenny's lead.

* * *

The casino was nice- not too flashy or high class, but you could tell that it was under decent ownership. Nothing too dingy. Also, it wasn't too hard to sneak in the alcohol that Token had given them as a going away present, since none of the drinks they served there were too fancy. No one seemed to pay them any attention as they chugged down their beers and vodka mixed with various juices. Though one dealer did give Stan a strange look when he pulled out one of his wine coolers, but who could blame him for that? It didn't take very long for all of them to become completely plastered, hardly remembering where they even were anymore. Thankfully the casino was pretty crowded, making it difficult for their loud acts of drunkenness to get them too noticed.

Kyle had hung back a little at first, sipping on a beer and betting the minimum at every table, but after a reminder from Stan about their conversation earlier about him becoming his mother, he started to let go. He chugged beers and downed shots. He wagered a hundred dollars on a game of roulette, and won. All in all, he was feeling pretty damn good.

Two thirty rolled around, and the casino just seemed to be getting more and more crowded. Kyle hadn't intended on calling it a night yet, especially after he discovered the craps table, but after nearly getting into a fist fight with some drunken guy who claimed he had stolen his seat, he decided to head back to the hotel room.

He remembered stumbling around the various tables and crowds of people, looking for his friends so they knew that he was leaving. He sort of remembered getting in the elevator and accidentally pressing three different buttons before he hit the right one. His memory on actually entering his hotel room was even fuzzier. As he flopped down on a bed, though, and felt another body lay down beside him, he realized that he definitely didn't remember Cartman following him there.

"Wha- were you with me tha whole time?" Kyle slurred, sitting up on his elbows as he regarded the brunette. His cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and his hair was disheveled, poking up in all kinds of different directions.

"You mean since you left the casino?" Cartman questioned, never opening his eyes as he breathed deeply, almost like he was sleeping.

"Uh, yeah."

"Yes. I already blew a ton of money and I figured that as long as someone else was coming up, I would too. Besides," he continued, lazily opening one eye to stare blurrily up at Kyle. "If I drink anymore I'm pretty sure I'll go into a coma."

Kyle tried to nod but it ended up looking more like he was trying to draw a circle with his head. "Same."

Cartman gave him a goofy not-all-there smile and closed his eyes again. Kyle sighed and let his body fall onto the bed. His mind wandered as they lied together in silence, and he wondered briefly why they were so close to each other. He felt like the beds were big enough for two people to lie down without touching each other, but he was very aware of the fact that the entire left side of his body was pressed firmly against Cartman. He thought about shifting over, but then decided that would be too much work and chose to ignore the fact. Only he couldn't really ignore it once he started thinking about it. Cartman did feel really warm, after all, and the sound of his breathing was incredibly soothing. Like one of those tapes that some people play while they're trying to fall asleep, with the sounds of the ocean and waterfalls on them. That's what it sounded like to Kyle. Well, of course Cartman's breathing didn't sound like a waterfall, but the affect was the same. Kyle smiled into the warm sensation that was pooling in his chest and felt his hand twitch as it brushed against Cartman's fingers.

Cartman's entire body gave a jerk and he nearly fell off the bed, his eyes flying open to look over at Kyle. He didn't seem to notice- there was a small smile playing across his lips and he looked extremely peaceful. Cartman bit his lip as he wondered what the red head was thinking about.

"Hey, could I ask you a question?" Cartman blurted without really thinking.

Kyle cracked his eyes open to look up at Cartman, who had shifted to that he was lying on his side, looking down at him. "Sure."

"What was it like to kiss Stan?"

Kyle gaped at him for a moment, and then scoffed. "Why, you have a crush on him or something?"

Cartman glared at him, a glint of something indiscernible in his eyes. "No. I was just wondering what it's like to be such a queer."

Kyle smiled, seeing past his insulting defense. Cartman _was_ honestly curious, that much he could tell. "It was…" Kyle paused, looking past Cartman at the ceiling as he tried to remember the incident. It really wasn't anything special- he could barely recall anything too detailed. "Warm."

"It was _warm_?" Cartman repeated, giving him an incredulous look. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Kyle shrugged. "I don't know. It wasn't anything amazing; it was like how you'd kiss a family member- warm and kind of familiar, but no real spark or anything because that would be incredibly creepy."

Cartman stared at Kyle with a blank look on his face before he nodded, looking appeased. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"So, how long have you been wondering what it's like to be a queer?" Kyle questioned, a barely suppressed smile on his face.

Cartman gave him a confused look before remembering his earlier phrasing. "You know what I meant, Jew."

Kyle sat up on his elbows, causing Cartman to nearly fall back since he was leaning over him. Kyle pursed his lips as he regarded Cartman. He realized that they had just shared something more special than all their years of friendship combined into one moment. He and Cartman never talked about personal things, or things that were bothering them, or anything important that ever crossed their mind. For some reason, Kyle felt like he should reciprocate in some way.

"Can I tell you something?" The red head questioned, giving Cartman a cautious look.

"Yeah, sure."

"I didn't tell my parents I was leaving."

Cartman gave him a bored look. "Well duh."

"What?"

"I already knew that, genius."

"But, how?"

"Kyle, you've never been able to stand up to your parents. There's no way you were going to put your foot down for the first time in your life and tell them you were leaving. They would have said no and you would have let them lock you in your room until the rest of us were long gone, just to avoid any conflict." Cartman declared, like it was the most obvious fact in the world.

"Why haven't you said anything?" Kyle questioned after a few moments of silence.

"Kenny and Stan would overreact."

"But you love a chance to put my fuck ups in the spot light." Kyle pointed out, giving Cartman an uncomprehending look. Like he all of a sudden didn't understand who the hell he was talking to anymore.

"Not if my audience is just going to bitch about it. That's just no fun. I like more satisfying rewards when I rat you out."

Kyle shook his head and flopped back onto the bed. "Well, thanks I guess."

"Ugh, don't thank me. I wasn't doing it to be nice." Cartman responded, lying back down next to him.

"Right." Kyle agreed, but couldn't stop the smile that creeped onto his face. Especially when he realized that their bodies were pressed even closer together, their shoulders bumping and their legs becoming thoughtlessly entwined as they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: **So, my favorite part was when Kyle and Cartman were talking in the hotel room at the end :)

What about you?

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing- this story just gets more fun as it goes along^^


	10. Changing Perspectives

**A/N: **I really, honestly apologize for the lateness and shortness of this chapter. This is probably the shortest chapter I've written so far, but I figured I've made you guys wait long enough for an update, and it seemed like an appropriate cut off especially since I know what I want to happen in the next chapter.

I have no solid excuse for why it's taken me so long to update, all I can say is that the reviews I've gotten while I've been on my short hiatus are what really inspired me to get this chapter out, so thank you guys who cared enough to provoke me! And thanks to everyone else who had been reading and reviewing, your feedback gives me more motivation than you'll ever know. I just hope I haven't lost everyone in the time it's taken me to update!

Anywayyy,

Thank you much for being so patient with me and enjoy! I realize it's probably a little jumpy and a bit bumpy here and there but bare with me, it's been a long time since I've worked on this and I have to get back into the groove of things.

* * *

The next morning was nothing but blurry objects and blinding sunlight for Kyle as he slowly regained consciousness. He heard a faint, stifled noise to his right as he sat up, feeling blankets fall around his waist.

"Good morning sunshine." Kenny's soft voice greeted him from beside his bed. "I see you had an eventful night."

Kyle blinked hard and rubbed his eyes in an effort to clear up his vision, much to Kenny's amusement. When he was finally able to squint through the bright sunlight enough to distinguish certain objects around him, he immediately gasped and fell ungracefully off the bed. The previous night came rushing back to him as he remembered falling asleep _cuddling _with Eric Cartman. Not cool, man.

"The fuck is going on?" Cartmans' garbled voice questioned as the commotion caused him to wake up.

"Nothing!" Kyle answered quickly, before Kenny or Stan had the opportunity to throw in some witty comment. "Just getting ready to get back on the road."

"Fuck," Cartman mumbled, always the articulate one. "What time is it?"

Kyle searched for a clock, finding one next to the TV on the dresser. "Four o'clock?" He answered incredulously, giving Stan and Kenny murderous glares.

"Why did you let everyone sleep in so late, faggot? There's no way we're going to make it to the border tonight." Cartman pointed out, getting out of bed slowly.

"I was still sleeping, asslord. These idiots just woke me up, too."

"Still sleeping? Jesus, how fuckin' much did you drink last night?"

Kyle busied himself with digging in his suitcase for a clean shirt to hide the blush that fired across his face. "About as much as you." He answered quietly, but no one else seemed to catch it.

"Well, shit." Cartman continued as he sat up and tried to regain control of his conscious mind. "We really need to get going."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." Kyle sneered, rolling his eyes at the larger teen. "We're obviously not going to make it to the border by dark, but I'd still like to get as far as we can tonight."

Everyone nodded in mutual agreement and set to getting ready for another almost unendurably long stretch of road. The only thing that seemed to console them was the weather. For some reason the one common denominator, between their otherwise severely contrasting personalities, was rain. It calmed all of them, no matter what. Kyle speculated that it was because they were all so used to the silence of snow, blanketing everything with a deafening stillness. Rain was different. Rain beat a steady rhythm against the metal roof of the car. Rain was warmer, and wetter, and spurned more life than snow. Snow was the death of the planet and rain was the life.

It was pouring as they ran out of the lobby to their hotel. Everyone who found themselves unfortunate enough to have to go out in the storm was either guarded by an umbrella or running to shelter, their feet or thick tires cutting through puddles that rose like waves. Their small group of four, however, walked leisurely to their car, faces turned skyward as if they were soaking up rays from the sun.

"We should be able to get in a few solid hours on the road." Kyle commented as they settled into the van. Kenny took up the drivers' seat with Cartman next to him as Stan and Kyle stretched out in the back. "And if we wake up early enough tomorrow, we should cross the state boarder around eleven."

"Are you giving me permission to break the speed limit?" Kenny questioned cheekily, giving Kyle a sly grin.

"No. But it probably wouldn't hurt to push it a little."

"That sounds like permission to me!" The blond exclaimed, throwing the van into reverse and squealing out of the parking lot.

Kyle didn't remember exactly when it happened, but at some point he fell asleep. He blamed it on his increasingly horrific hangover, and the fact that Stan's feet made a surprisingly comfortable pillow. Wait, why was he using Stan's feet as a pillow? And where was that light coming from?

"Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. Fuck!"

"What's going on?" Kyle crawled up between the front seats and Kenny looked down at him with panic in his eyes.

"Eat the weed." He commanded, looking more frightened than Kyle had ever seen him.

The red head almost questioned his friend, until he noticed a shadow approaching the window behind him and was nearly blinded by a powerful flashlight. Shrinking as far into the back of the van as he could, he kicked Stan in the ribs until he woke up.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Stan inquired groggily, looking at Kyle through lidded eyes. "And why are my feet wet?"

"Where's the weed?" Kyle whispered as he heard Kenny cranking the window down in the front.

"In my bag. I'm really not in the mood right now though, I was actually enjoying a wonderful nap until you-"

"Just get it for me!" Kyle snapped, glaring at his best friend.

"I think we might need to talk about possible rehabilitation centers for you," Stan mumbled as he crawled across the floor to dig through his bag, "You obviously have a problem."

Kyle rolled his eyes, pointed to the front of the van and mouthed, "Cops, dumbass."

Stan's eyes looked like they were going to jump right out of his skull as he quickly shuffled back over to Kyle, shoving the sizeable amount of marijuana into his hand.

"You're gunna help me fucking eat this, right?"

"Aw, come on!" Stan groaned, pulling a disgusted face.

"You wouldn't care if I took a look around inside the vehicle then, would you?" A deep voice floated to their hidden corner of the van and Stan sighed, holding out his hand.

"It's really not that much." Kyle reassured as he filled his friend's entire palm full of weed.

"Whatever, let's just do this."

Kyle nodded in agreement and the two of them swiftly shoved their hands against their faces, cramming as much into their mouths as possible.

"Awfh, thif if difgushing!" Stan complained, chewing as fast as he could.

"Ah oo." Kyle agreed, face contorted with revulsion.

They had just finished swallowing the last of it when the back doors were thrown open.

"Evening gentlemen." The officer greeted in a monotone, blinding them with his annoying flashlight.

"Dude!" Stan exclaimed, holding up a hand to shield his eyes.

Kyle fidgeted uncomfortably as the pudgy officer began shifting through their bags, only just remembering the crate of Token's alcohol they had tucked underneath Cartman's suitcase.

The officer actually managed to climb, with some amount of difficulty, into the back of the fucking car. Which had to be against some constitutional amendment, right? As he was digging through Cartman's bag, Kyle could feel his heart pounding in his ears. When he found what was under there, everything would be ruined. They hadn't even made it to their destination and they would be forced to turn right back around and deal with their angry parents and probably a hefty fine.

Kyle and Stan breathed in at the same time when he roughly shoved Cartman's things across the floor. By the grace of Jesus or Joseph Smith, or whatever holy deity you believe in, there was nothing underneath. The officer gave them a questioning look, but was forced to leave them in peace when he was ultimately unable to find evidence of anything illegal.

They were silent as the officer got back into his own car and then, as soon as he was out of sight, Kenny buckled over in laughter.

"I can't believe you ate all that weed!" He choked out, holding his stomach as he tried to breathe.

"It's really not funny," Kyle commented, glaring at his blond friend. "I think I'm starting to feel something."

"Oh, you won't feel anything for a while, but after that you'll probably be fucked up for days!" Kenny exclaimed, wiping away the tears that were streaming down his face.

"Why did he pull us over in the first place?" Cartman interjected, looking thoughtfully at Kenny.

"Well," he started, mood immediately changing from overjoyed to sheepish. "You all fell asleep, and I was tired too, but there wasn't any place to stop, so I just kinda… pulled over."

"You pulled over to sleep, in the middle of the night, on the interstate?" Kyle shook his head in exasperation.

"That's just sketchy." Stan stated, trying to hold back a laugh at the incredulity of the situation.

"I know, I know, but we're fine now, aren't we?" Kenny reminded.

"Yeah, luckily. What did you guys do with the alcohol?" Kyle questioned as Kenny threw the car into drive and merged back on to the road.

"Cartman shoved the crate under his seat. Have I mentioned yet how much I love this car?"

"I will have to admit," Cartman started, "The hippies definitely had at least one thing going for them."

"Do my ears deceive me?" Kyle looked at the larger boy with mock shock as he grabbed his chest, feigning a heart attack.

"Yeah, hearing Cartman say something even remotely nice about hippies has to be a sure sign that the end is coming, right?" Stan added, laughing at the scowl Cartman threw at him.

"Screw you guys." He mumbled half-heartedly before focusing his attention out the windshield.

"Aw, what'sa matter?" Kenny joked, talking to Cartman like he would a baby. "Do you need Kyle to kiss it better?"

Though he would later try to blame it on the slowly transforming effects of the marijuana, Kyle's face instantly flared redder than his hair.

"Fuck you, Kenny!" Cartman shouted indignantly, looking like he wanted to break the other boys' arms. And legs. Maybe bruise a few ribs, too.

"I'm sorry, dude. I didn't realize you were so _passionate _about Kyle." The blond responded, a sly smile plastered across his face.

Just as Cartman was winding up his fist to sink into Kenny's face, Stan jumped up in excitement, and slight confusion.

"What did that sign say?" He shouted, pressing his face up against the back window as if it would help him read it.

"Oh, it said welcome to San Diego." Kenny replied nonchalantly. Cartman's fist froze an inch from Kenny's cheek.

"Dude?" Was all Stan and Kyle could manage to choke out.

"So, I'm assuming you guys want me to drive to the nearest beach as soon as possible?"

"Oh, hell yeah!" Stan recovered from his momentary shock, throwing a fist in the air.

"I don't understand, how did we get here so fast?" Kyle inquired, looking up at Kenny from between the front seats.

"I drove all night while you guys slept, that's why I was so tired." Kenny stated, shrugging a shoulder. "Oh, and if you don't mind I really need to make a detour before the beach. I haven't pissed all day and we're in desperate need of gas."

Twenty minutes later they were parked in a dingy gas station they were almost afraid was closed down. Kenny had a literal fit over gas being over five dollars a gallon before deciding he had to pee too bad to worry about it. Stan followed him inside, leaving Kyle and Cartman alone in the van.

An awkward air settled between them as they watched Stan and Kenny walk away. At least it felt awkward to Kyle, he guessed he couldn't really vouch for Cartman. He wanted to say something, anything, but for some reason his mind was drawing a complete blank.

So, remember how we fell asleep cuddling like a cute fucking couple last night?

Yeah, right. Cartman probably hadn't even thought about it again. It was different for Kyle, though. He felt like something had transpired between the two of them last night. Not that he could really put a word or feeling along with it, but somehow he felt different towards Cartman, and that made him feel super fucking awkward. Who was Cartman if not the annoying, fat ass, douche bag that was constantly making fun of him?

Maybe his friend? That was such a ludicrous concept that Kyle actually chuckled to himself.

"What are you laughing about, Jew boy?" Cartman demanded, glancing at the red head from the front seat.

"I really think all that weed is getting to me." Kyle replied, trying to play the moment off. Not that the notion was so far-fetched; Kyle would have to be high out of his fucking mind to actually entertain the idea of Cartman being his friend.

"Whatever." Cartman huffed, looking agitated. "What the hell is taking those faggots so long?"

"Hopefully they're getting some food, I'm fucking starving."

"And you call me the fatass," Cartman scoffed, folding his arms annoyance. "Fucking ginger."

Kyle glared at the back of the brunette's seat, wondering what the fuck had crawled up his ass. Just the other day they had been getting along at least better than usual, and now he was insulting him every time he opened his mouth. Why would he ever want to be friends with someone like that? But then he remembered last night. He couldn't have been imagining things; the way they acted towards each other was definitely friendly. So why the sudden change of heart?

Stan and Kenny returned to the car with their arms full of food, much to Kyle's delight.

"Dude, I got zebra cakes!" Stan nearly yelled in excitement as he jumped into the back of the van with Kyle. "Fucking zebra cakes!"

"Oh, fuck yeah!" Kyle mirrored his friend's enthusiasm, grabbing a package from the admirable pile, now strew across the floor.

"You guys are such fucking queers." Cartman snarled, stealing a soda from Kenny as he set his things in the front.

'What's his problem?' Stan mouthed around the entire cake he had just stuffed down his throat.

Kyle shrugged and did the same, noting that he was definitely starting to feel a little high. Zebra cakes had never tasted so fucking good, and that was saying something.

"And now," Kenny started with a flourish, a stick of beef jerky hanging from his lips. "To the beach!"

It didn't take long to find a nice stretch of sand. It no time the four of them had gathered up all of their food and hauled it to a small picnic table not far from their parking spot.

"God, it feels so amazing." Kenny remarked, leaning back as he let the ocean breeze sweep over him.

"I know, I didn't think it would be so cool." Kyle stated, closing his eyes at the feeling.

"How the fuck did you think it would feel, dumbass? You're sitting next to an ocean. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one." Cartman commented, picking half-heartedly at a bag of chips and looking altogether unimpressed.

"Dude, lay the fuck off." Kenny warned, catching the hurt look that flashed across Kyle's face.

"Make me." Cartman snapped before standing up with a jerk and nearly knocking their table over. "Fuck you guys, I'm gunna go take a nap."

"Nap? You just slept for like fourteen hours in the past day alone." Kenny reminded.

The only response he got was Cartman flipping him off as he walked back to the van.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" Kenny wondered aloud as he stared at his retreating form, growing quickly indiscernible in the dark.

"Who cares." Stan declared, waving the offending situation away with his hands. "I wanna swim."

"Me too!" Kenny jumped up in agreement. "Last one to the water has to suck Cartman's balls!"

And just like that they all scrambled to the shore, pushing and shoving one another in an attempt to get there first. Kyle, however, couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Cartman. For some reason, unknown even to him, he knew that whatever was bothering him was something big. Something life changing. And it was only a matter of time before the ticking time bomb known as Eric Cartman finally went off. He was also certain, for whatever sick and twisted reason, that he wanted to be there to help pick up the pieces.

* * *

**A/N: **As usual, be sure to drop a comment about your favorite part. What was mine? When Kyle and Stan had to eat the weed :)

And also let me know if you've spotted any major mistakes or have any constructive criticism- anything to get me back on track, guys!

THANKS!


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